Much Ado About Nothing (@BardOnTheBeach)

Of all the wonderful things to do in Vancouver, Bard on the Beach (the summer Shakespeare festival) is probably one of the most classic ones to do. The wonderful folks of Bard on the Beach (via Cynnamon Schreinert, one of the best PR people in town) have always been incredibly kind to me (particularly sponsoring ticket giveaways and my prize packages). And I try hard to return the favor.

I was invited to opening night of Much Ado About Nothing and I brought along my good friends Minna Van (who blogged about her experience) and Jay Catalan. Now, it’s one thing to enjoy Bard on the Beach (or any theatre performance) by yourself when you are a theatre fanatic (like I am, because I am a trained stage actor). But it’s another to share it with friends and that’s something I really enjoy.

Both Jay and Minna had a wonderful time, and it’s the result of an amazing production and the work of a fantastic director and an outstanding ensemble of actors. Last year I reviewed a number of Bard on the Beach productions, including All That Is Well Ends Well and Othello. But Much Ado takes the cake for funniest production of them all, I think.

Romance and matchmaking abound when the men return victorious from war. While friends devise merry plots to trick the fiercely independent Beatrice and Benedick into admitting their love for each other, Hero and Claudio make idealistic wedding plans. Into this world of courtship, light-hearted mischief and wit, Shakespeare places Don John, a “plain-dealing villain.” Isolated from the fun, he is determined to destroy it. Relieving tensions are the hilarious constable and his watch and, in the end, it is bumbling Constable Dogberry who saves the day.

You can purchase tickets to Bard on the Beach online. But you should buy your tickets soon, because many of the shows are sold out (like the 7pm showing of Much Ado on June 20th which is Father’s Day).

Much Ado About Nothing runs until September 25th, 2010.