By Nana Amma Intsiful
The Ardeo Theatre hosted “Much Ado About Nothing,” a play by William Shakespeare. The play ran last month and was performed at Hodson Outdoor Amphitheater at Hood College, Aug. 21-29, put on by the Frederick
Shakespeare Festival. Among the troupe is Rook Bartlett, who is part of the production team; they attend Hood College, alongside Aaron Angello, who is an associate professor of English at Hood College.
Ardeo Theatre is Aaron Angello’s company. They have a group of people whom they work with often.
“We sort of work with the same actors and then we hold auditions and we fill it in,” Angello said.
Bartlett spoke about some of the most enjoyable parts of production.
“Being silly and having fun with the actors; the cast was also willing to be vulnerable and playful with their roles,” Bartlett said.
The theme for this year was the ’80s, which came from Angello.
“I just had an idea of doing it that way. It’s typical to dress Shakespeare in different time periods, you know?” Angello said.
The play incorporates a lot of ’80s music and outfits.
“It’s fun to sort of mix it up, and I thought the ’80s would be fun because it was kind of a superficial time a little bit,” Angello said.
“It was just kind of nostalgic for a lot of people. The music is dancey and fun, the pleasure the audience would have having that music and the costumes and stuff. Make it more fun,” Angello said.
Bartlett believes that live theater is important, especially now.
“Theater in general, and live theater, and going to see productions is more important than ever,” Bartlett said. “I think that going to see a show and being with people and experiencing something at the same time as someone that you do not know, especially experiencing art with someone that you do not know, there’s something truly special about that.”
Bartlett believes vulnerability is a main throughline of this play.
“When you let yourself love, and you let yourself be close and open to people, that is when you are going to be the happiest and best version of yourself,” Bartlett said.
While Bartlett focuses on the deeper theme of the production, Angello focuses on an enjoyable experience for the audience.
“It’s just about having a good time and I’m intentionally trying to make it a play that allows the audience just to have a good time. That was my goal. I think we did a pretty good job,” Angello said.
It was a fun and memorable night for everyone who attended.
The next play the two are working on is “Romeo and Juliet” at Hood College.
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