The Hyde Park Players Present

Much Ado About Nothing

July 22-24 & 29-31, at 6:00pm in Nichols Park. Admission is free. Donations are welcome.

The Players are thrilled to return to Nichols Park to mount our first summer Shakespeare play since 2019. Full of wit, humor, heart, and drama, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, and a powerful testament to the transformative power of love. Hero and Claudio are in love and they are getting married in a week. Their best friends, Beatrice and Benedick, can’t stand each other. Drama prince Don Pedro decides they should while away the time by tricking Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love. Meanwhile, Don Pedro’s scheming brother Don John and his two minions want to trick Claudio into falling out of love with Hero. Both plots work only too well…and they prove to be an explosive combination. But all’s well that ends well…right?

Directed by Susan Harris with Corinna Christman. Original music by Bill Hohnke. Choreography by Leslie Browne.

CAST

(in order of appearance):

Leonato……………………Allan Humphries

Messenger….…………….Lena Birkholz

Beatrice……………………Leslie Halverson

Hero…………….………….Marissa Tranquilli

Don Pedro………………..Ryan Kacani

Benedick………………….Rob Carhuayo

Don John………………….Alex Nobert

Claudio…………………….Henrik Nieslen / Allegra Hatem*

Conrade…….….………….Sam Gray

Borachio…………………..Laura Mahaniah

Antonio…………………….Elizabeth Vann

Margaret…………………..Alessandra Silva

Ursula………………….…..Sophie Veys

Balthasar…………………..Dorothy Parsons

Dogberry………….……..…Sasha Austin

Verges……………..……..…Henrik Nielsen

Francis Seacole………..…Matthew Weflen

Hugh Oatcake……………..Ron Chafetz

Watch #3………….……..…Dorothy Parsons

Friar Francis……………….Emily Stevens

Sexton……………………..…Lavanya Taneja

Ensemble: Andrea Holliday, Ruth Kadanoff, David Pirszel

*Henrik Nielsen plays Claudio July 22-24. Allegra Hatem plays Claudio July 29-31.