being a "categorical hit" ...

... means i am too busy to write blog posts, apparently.

i can't believe how much has happened since i last wrote, and i do have big plans to update you on the play, my move, education goals for 2011, and a couple major life decisions - then on december 29th there will be a BIG announcement.

until then, allow me to brag here about the fabulous review our show in general (and i in particular) received - for those who didn't catch it on facebook:

Much ado about comedy
Director Anne Marie Szucs speeds up Much Ado About Nothing
Bryan Saunders

In this, the first ever donor-voted show at Walterdale Playhouse, patrons voted overwhelming for a comedy. And this is exactly what director Anne Marie Szucs delivers in this production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

However, Szucs doesn’t simply rely on the already funny script to provide the laughs, but instead brings a level of almost absurd physical comedy to the play that borders on slapstick and puts the audience in stitches.

Stand-out moments include any and all eavesdropping scenes whether it included the watchmen “investigating” Borachio and Constanza, Benedick spying on Don Pedro and Leonato, or Beatrice listening in on Ursula and Hero’s conversation.

That said, it’s initially a bit difficult to keep all of the characters straight as they’re all dressed similarly and a lot of them look just a little too much alike. Actor Marcia Rigney also plays two characters—both Verges and Baltha—so audiences have to pay close attention in the beginning of the play or risk ending up a bit dizzy.

Some of the characters that do stand out from the crowd, though, including the main characters and mutual love interests Benedick (Murray Cullen) and Beatrice (Erika Conway). Both Cullen and Conway bring such great energy and quick wit to the stage and it’s a pleasure to see such genuine chemistry between the two lovers.

A pleasant surprise also comes from one of the supporting characters as well, namely Ursula. Catherine Wenschlag absolutely owns her role, bringing with her an understated and wholly rare kind of comedy. As a result, she is a categorical hit with the audience even though she only has about a dozen lines.

The pace of this production—it’s worth mentioning—is quite quick as well, so the audience’s interest never has an opportunity to wane. Historically, Much Ado is a rather long play, but Szucs has trimmed all the fat from the script and all of the scenes roll along quite rapidly. This is a good thing for the most part, but there times when this quick pace blurred the intent and emotional meaning of some of the actor’s lines. For instance, while the role of Leonato was played quite splendidly by Dale Wilson, it would have been improved had his moment of anger and sadness with his daughter Hero (Leah Peterson) been played more slowly.

Likewise, in another scene in which Beatrice asks Benedick to do the unthinkable, letting the tension and drama build a bit more would make it more interesting to watch. Instead, there is a quick return to comedy and the scene is not all that it could be.

Silence in theatre is an enormously powerful device when used right, and the juxtaposition of great comedy against great tragedy heightens both these emotions to a point that they cannot reach on their own.

With winters as cold and dark as Edmonton’s then, it’s only logical that a comedy as warm and bright as this one is just the thing to watch at this time of year.

not gonna lie - that pretty much made my day ... week .... um, year.