Walterdale gives Shakespeare classic cool twist

There’s nothing like good old-fashioned love to heat up the moment as Walterdale Playhouse opens its arms to one of Shakespeare’s favourite romantic comedies.

Much Ado About Nothing, set to open Wednesday, Dec. 1 for a 10-day run, brings back the fiery sparring matches between Beatrice and Benedick and the more sublime pairing of Hero and Claudio.

This delightful Shakespearean comedy is loaded with mistaken identity, spying, eavesdropping and romantic treachery. An evil Don John conspires to break up the long-anticipated wedding of Hero and Claudio by accusing his niece of infidelity. But in the end, love and good friends triumph and it was really just “much ado about nothing.”

Catherine Wenschlag, a St. Albert Children’s Theatre alumna dating from 1984-1988, has been cast in the role of Ursula, Hero’s lively waiting woman who enjoys a good conspiracy. “She’s adorable. She’s romantic. She wants everyone to be happy. I will miss her when the show is done,” says Wenschlag.

No stranger to Shakespeare’s lush iambic pentameter, Wenschlag has also worked in Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It. But this Walterdale production is a first for her.

For more than a decade, the former St. Albert resident lived in Los Angeles working for Sony Pictures in the finance division, buying props and organizing international banking for movies. Several major projects in which she had serious input were Memoirs of a Geisha and Talledega Nights.

But in 2007 it was time to come home and she now makes a career as a project assistant. Performing with a cast to shape a play is Wenschlag’s creative balance countering a stressful job.

“We really focus on making it a lively, upbeat show, especially now that it’s cold outside. Hopefully people will spend a couple of hours and leave feeling a bit brighter than when they came in.”

One of Shakespeare’s lighter works of love, Much Ado is often performed at outdoor summer festivals. In keeping with the time of year, director Anne-Marie Szucs fashions the story around the winter solstice. “It’s when we mark the shortest day of the year and celebrate the return of light. Using this motif, the play is full of energy and zest for life and it makes it a perfect play for December,” says Szucs, a former English instructor with a passion for the Bard.

While the forces of light and darkness are heightened, both through textual and production elements, Szucs has some simple advice for ticket holders. “Enjoy the love, the fun, the lust, the humour and take that piece of light home with you.”