The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 2/4/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Brandon Iwamoto Junior performing arts major Robyn Dulye, left, plays the part of Margaret with sophomore performing arts major Ben Wasser, playing the part of Borachio, in the Shakespere play "Much Ado About Nothing" being performed at the University Center of the Arts, with the first showing tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 for students and youth, $14 for seniors, and $16 for adults.

"Much Ado About Nothing," a comedy written by William Shakespeare, premieres tonight at 8 p.m. at the University Center for the Arts. The play will show through Sunday, Feb. 8.

Performances will begin at 8 p.m. every night, with only a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Student tickets can be purchased at the CSU ticket office for $7 or at the UCA before the performance.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is about two different loves, said Matt Block, a CSU alumnus. He said one is a love that people want to accept: two lovers who want nothing more than to be married, and the second love is one the lovers do not want to accept and are tricked into love by characters in the play.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is the first play to be performed on the University Stage.

"The new stage is a thrust stage, which makes it more intimate, and more like the stages found during Shakespeare's time," said Eric Prince, the director of the production.

Prince said he felt it was important to bring Shakespeare to the CSU stage because his plays haven't been performed often in Fort Collins.

"It felt right to do Shakespeare since he is one of the great writers," Prince said.

He decided to bring one of Shakespeare's comedies to Fort Collins because the last play performed at CSU was one of Shakespeare's tragedies.

"I thought it would be a good balance to perform a comedy," he said.

Prince decided to make a change to the time period and location of the play, placing it in California after World War II. This was done, he said, to make the play more accessible and modern to audiences. But only the costumes and set of the play were changed, with the original storyline and language remaining the same.

"I think the change makes the play interesting and fresh," said Dustin Demonja, the student director for the production and a senior theater major. "I am not a Shakespeare purist, so I feel changes to make it fresh and relevant are important."

Phoebe Piper, an actress in the play, said that even the original play is easy to understand and enjoy.

"Whether you do like Shakespeare or don't like Shakespeare, you will like this play," said Piper, a sophomore interior design major. "The language is in a easier style, so it's not as hard to understand."

Piper said that the writing is in more prose style, so it is not as complicated as his infamous iambic pentameter.

"Don't fear Shakespeare," she added later.

Staff writer Ashley Lauwereins can be reached at verve@collegian.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools