The production design istraditional Elizabethan, featuring designer Kate Vannoy’s elaborate, sumptuouscostuming. The production also makes use of handcrafted masks by artist PeterSmith. The set will be minimal within this small studio space, so the visualaspect of the production will largely focus on the actors’ poise and presence.
The cast consists ofCarte Blanche regulars, including director Jimmy Dragolovich in the role ofvillain Don John. Carte Blanche has a solid track record with its regularactors, so the dynamic interplay between the members of this ensemble should befun to watch. Actress/dancer Samantha Paige, who has performed interesting workwith Carte Blanche in the past, has framed 16th-century dances to add to theatmosphere of the show.
This is the fledglingtheater company’s second Shakespeare staging, following last June’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Much Ado About Nothing runs Feb. 19 through March 7 at CarteBlanche Studios, 1024 S. Fifth St.
Dale Gutzman’s Off the Wall Theatre also opens anintimate production of Shakespeare this weekend as it welcomes audiences to astaging of Macbeth (at least three performanceshave sold out as of this writing). Off the Wall’s space, located across thestreet from the Pabst Theater, is already quite small, but director Gutzman isamplifying the intimacy of the production by limiting the number of seats. Bydoing so, he hopes to maximize the visceral impact of the performance. It’s arisky decision, given such an epic Shakespearean tragedy. If any aspect of theplay comes across as less than authentic, the whole performance could suffer.With Off the Wall’s Jeremy Welter in the title role, however, the center of theaction should be quite riveting.
Macbeth runs Feb. 18 through March 7 at Off theWall Theatre, 127 E. Wells St.
