Not just for ‘college professors and snooty people,’ Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene puts on ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene Artistic/Educational Director Mary T. Bowers has read William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” upwards of 50 times.

She’s seen at least 20 different productions of the comedy and has taught the play in countless classes over her 30 years as an English teacher.

With all that experience, it’s no wonder she sometimes found herself mouthing the lines along with actors during rehearsal for Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene’s current production of “Much Ado About Nothing,” which marks her first time directing.

“I know this play better than any other,” she said. “It’s surreal to see it take shape on stage, but man, we’ve got great actors and it’s been so much fun.”

“Much Ado About Nothing” played its first weekend in June and continues Saturday and Sunday at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene.

In “Much Ado About Nothing,” audiences meet Leonato (Kevin Connell), who lives in Messina with his young daughter Hero (Lucille Simpson), his sister Antonia (Beth Ellingwood) and Antonia’s daughter Beatrice (Geneva Leonard).

One day, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro (Max Quintal), a prince, Claudio (Seth Weddle), a young nobleman, and Benedick (Nicholas Kittilstved), always ready with a joke, will soon return from war. Don John (Matthew Rakes), Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, will also be returning home.

Once the men arrive at Leonato’s home, Benedick and Beatrice make jokes at each other’s expense, much like they have always done. Meanwhile, it’s love at first sight for Claudio and Hero, and Claudio tells Benedick and Don Pedro he intends to court Hero. Don Pedro is supportive but Benedick swears off marriage.

Later at a dance, Don Pedro and his men see Benedick and Beatrice trading barbs and decide to bring the pair together once and for all by making Benedick overhear a conversation about how Beatrice is in love with him. Hero and Ursula (Amanda Moore) do the same thing with Beatrice.

Both Beatrice and Benedick are happy to hear the other is in love with them, and it looks like two happy couples will soon be going to the altar.

But then, Don John gets involved.

The play also stars Shelby Marcott, Anne Lebella, Monica Thomas, Jessica Kell, Sam Herbison, Paul Tardiff, Jacob Oritt, Amelia Polocz, Roger Huntman, Willow Rakes, Kathleen Polocz, Maria Stromberg, James Davis, Sadie Selby, Amelia Polocz, Kathleen Polocz, Bella Polocz, Naomi Babine, Claire Patridge and Sophia Patridge.

Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene is now in its second season. The company came together after Executive Director Maggie Johnson asked Bowers what she wanted to do after retiring from teaching.

Bowers responded, “I’d direct Shakespeare plays.”

To that, Johnson said, “Let’s do it.”

Bowers sold her home and moved from Sacramento to Coeur d’Alene, where the pair began working with a non-profit mentor who helped them get the company up and running.

“We’re two smart women. We know what we don’t know and aren’t afraid to ask for help and get expert opinions,” Bowers said.

Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene’s debut production was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The production was free so audiences could easily see what Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene was all about.

They then staged “Macbeth” at the Salvation Army Kroc Center, which Bowers, who received her master’s of arts in Shakespeare Studies through the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and has seen hundreds of Shakespeare plays, can confidently say was a standout production.

“It met my standards, and I am my toughest critic,” she said. “It was great, and it was voted the second best play in the whole region by ‘Inlander’ readers.”

“Much Ado About Nothing” kicks off the company’s second season. A production of “Hamlet” will follow in October.

Bowers is setting her production of “Much Ado About Nothing” in 1945, when soldiers returned home from fighting in World War II.

Bowers said alternative settings have become the norm for Shakespeare plays over the last 60 years. She has seen productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” set in colonial India, modern Los Angeles, the 19th century and World War I. Her favorite was a production set in pre-revolutionary Cuba.

“We talk a lot about our approach and our philosophy,” she said. “We are absolutely true to Shakespeare. We don’t impose anything on our plays. Doing it in a more modern setting or an alternative setting I think actually serves Shakespeare.

“In his lifetime, he was a member of the theater company. He was part owner, and he was the number one playwright in London at the time. ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ they didn’t come out wearing togas. They wore modern dress, so our choosing these settings actually puts a context to the play that I think makes it more accessible, more relatable.”

With a new setting comes a few new issues Bowers had to solve during rehearsals. The character of Dogberry (Oritt), for example, is a town constable. Bowers had to figure out a way to approach the character that would explain why he stayed in town instead of joining the military like the other men.

Her solution was to make Dogberry “blind as a bat” to the point where he is constantly bumping into things and mistaking one person for another.

Bowers has also – no spoilers – reworked her approach to Claudio to make audiences like him again by the end of the show after what he did to Hero thanks to Don John’s meddling. This choice also gives Hero more of a backbone than she’s usually performed with.

Bowers understands that many may have had Shakespeare ruined for them by an English teacher, but she hopes Shakespeare Coeur d’Alene’s production redeems the Bard. His work, she said, always has and always will be for everyone.

“People think Shakespeare’s just for college professors and snooty people,” she said. “That could not be farther from the truth. It wasn’t the truth in Shakespeare’s day, and it’s not the truth today. I think anybody coming to the show is going to be delighted.”