In a side room of the Douglas Park recreation centre in 91原创 City, three confused characters were trying to sort out the duties of a watchman.
鈥溾�� you are to bid any man stand, in the prince鈥檚 name,鈥� Dogberry told the second watchman.
鈥淗ow if a鈥� will not stand?鈥� the second watchman asked.
Dogberry, not a deep thinker, was momentarily speechless, then suggested the watchman should simply take no notice, let the offending person leave, 鈥渁nd thank God you are rid of a knave.鈥�
Dogberry鈥檚 second-in-command, the elderly Verges, chimed in to say if someone will not stand when bidden, 鈥渉e is none of the prince鈥檚 subjects.鈥�
Shawn McGrory as Dogberry, Dayna Coulter as the second watchman and Lisa Beaulieu as Verges were practising their lines before last Sunday鈥檚 auditions for the Bard in the Valley production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Out in the hallway, real-life couple Spenser Dunlop and Ann-Marie Zak were warming up by verbally sparring as Benedick and Beatrice, the central characters of the Shakespeare play, two would-be lovers who conceal their feelings for each other with witty banter.
鈥淚 confess nothing, nor I deny nothing,鈥� a fiery Beatrice said.
What was supposedly a discussion about other people then took a sudden turn.
鈥淏y my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me,鈥� Benedick declared.
There were 14 parts up for grabs in the 2017 Bard in the Valley (BIV) production, some involving multiple characters.
Much Ado About Nothing will be directed by Dylan Coulter, who has performed major Shakespearean roles in previous productions of Julius Caesar and .
The comedy will be the first directorial effort for Coulter, a graduate of 91原创 Fine Arts School who went on to study theatre and English at the University of the Fraser Valley and film at the Vancouver Film School.
Coulter views the play as a comedy that is also an 鈥渁n almost-tragedy.鈥�
鈥淚 love the fact that it鈥檚 kind of approaching those old kind of stereotypes of tragedy and then it veers back into comedy,鈥� Coulter said.
About 60 people are involved in staging the popular Bard in the Valley outdoor productions.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a consistently large audience at the performances right from the beginning,鈥� said Diane Gendron, president of Bard in the Valley.
Gendron likes to tell people who are a little intimidated by Shakespeare to attend any of the free 91原创 performances.
鈥淪ome people say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 understand Shakespeare,鈥� but if they just come to the performances, relax, and let the words roll over them, and watch what鈥檚 going on, on the stage, it all just becomes very clear.鈥�
The 2017 Bard in the Valley season is set to open on June 29 on the lawn in front of the historic community hall in Fort 91原创.
The performance will be followed by one on June 30, and another on July 1 during the Fort 91原创 Canada Day celebrations.
Then the production will move to the Township 7 Winery on the weekends of July 7, 8 and 9 and July 14 and 15.
Finally, the set will move to Douglas Park for eight performances on the Spirit Square stage on the weekends of July 20-23 and July 27 to 30.
More info can be found online at .
