Spring is arriving, and with it comes ACTS’ spring play, “Much Ado About Nothing.” This year’s Shakespearean play presents its own unique challenges for the actors and actresses.
“The line memorization has been worse because the language is much weirder. [Words] are switched up [and] different than you would normally say them,” said sophomore Sophie Jones, who is playing Hero.
She usually tackles issues with memorization by choosing “memory words,” or words she associates with the rest of the sentence to memorize it, but the archaic wording of this play makes that difficult to do. Jones is adjusting to using rote memorization, a method based on repetition.
Gavin Lucas, a senior playing Benedick, has been preparing for his role by doing more research.
Senior Kinsey Kunkel was cast as Dona Perita. Dona Perita was originally Don Pedro, a male character, but the character is now female due to a lack of male actors.
“There’s a certain challenge in trying to stay true to the original character while also not letting myself tap too much into playing her as a guy,” said Kunkel. “Trying to still portray her femininity while also remaining true to the character is a difficult balance.”
While performing a Shakespearean play has its difficulties, the cast has been enjoying rehearsals. Some of the actors are even able to find their interests in the show.
“I am a massive language nerd, so being able to explore that aspect of my interests combined with something I’m really passionate about, like acting, is really exciting to me,” said Kunkel.
Some, like Jones, enjoy the memories they are making during rehearsals.
“Some good memories are when you don’t have a scene [and you are] hanging out with other people… Tate does magic tricks [all the time], and that’s pretty fun to watch,” said Jones. She also enjoys talking to friends when she isn’t rehearsing a scene.
Many students in this day and age would not consider watching a Shakespeare play, but the cast presents many reasons why this play is worth attending.
“Everyone’s poking fun at everybody, and the cast can have fun [with] that,” said junior Tate Jennings, who plays Claudio. “It’s kind of relatable to today’s comedy culture. It stands up, even this many years later.”
Kunkel said that The King’s Academy rarely does comedies, and many ACTS members are very funny people, so she’s looking forward to them being able to perform one.
All in all, there are high hopes for the play’s premiere in March.
“It’s been really cool to see the students portray the characters in their own ways,” said director Mrs. Meredith Cloud. “A lot of the time they surprise me with things that are perfect for their character. I’m excited to see that on stage.”
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