AUSA Summer Shakespeare presents Much Ado About Nothing. Liv caught up with lead role Jessica Bates on the acting, Shakespeare and the New Zealand theatre scene.

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy between two pairs of lovers, tell us more...

It is the usual comedic recipe of trickery and tomfoolery, sewn up with obstacles and marriages and the most meddling of villains. The drama of the piece comes from the misleading of a young man into believing his fiancé to be unfaithful. I guess the challenge for the characters is to solve the issue of a woman scorned and the gender imbalance of public power. That’s the threatening meat of the thing, but there is this sunny glow cast over much of the play - because there is so much comedy and fun written in!

Is this a modern interpretation?

I always struggle with these ideas of ‘modern’ and ‘original’ - I guess to me, bringing modernity to an old text is about accessibility. Sam has set our production in the post-war 40s, when some difficult questions about the role of men and women are being asked. It preserves the tensions of the characters to set the show in this era. Finding a honest point of access for the actor into a period in which they did not live, and then cutting a window into that time slot through which the audience can appreciate the story - that makes the play ‘modern,’ I think.

Describe your role in the play...

I have always loved to see a Shakespearean comedy that presents complex and fierce females, and Beatrice is exactly that kind of babe. She knows her mind and she opens her heart. She has a fiery relationship with Benedick; they find each other infuriating, witty and provocative. Beatrice comes at things with this fearless energy. I like that she knows her worth and she owns her choices.

How do you get into character on stage?

If I’m in Beatrice’s world when I’m off the stage - if I know where she’s walking from, why she came this way, who she had a spat with and whether she ate lunch today - then I have no reason to drop out of that world when I walk on. I need context and details. I have a raft of facts about Beatrice that help me know her and that no-one else cares about. She reads a lot of Eliot, I think. She’s an amateur photographer. Maybe she’s gluten-free or something, I don’t know! I’ll figure it out.

What are the costumes like?

Beautiful - I feel like a total lady, waist nipped jackets and pleated skirts. Since Beatrice has a bit of money behind her - I get the best bits of the forties: long lines and feathered hat pieces. Dressing up each night will be so delicious.

Describe an average rehearsal for an actor...

In this show everyone is doing this outside their other work, studies etc, so we have to work at night in this hot little indoor space. When we get to the outdoor rehearsals, it will be brilliant. We have a lot of fun - we reluctantly quit the warm-ups to get into the scene work, and then we’ll keep pushing at a scene for a couple of hours to get comfortable with how it feels on stage. Sam isn’t a dictatorial director - he wants it to be a dialogue. The conversation is always open, and the collaboration is an exciting process, especially with this fresh and intelligent cast of Much Ado.

What are some of the challenges of re-enacting a play that was published in 1600?

Much Ado has this reputation that precedes it - as the real feel-good script of Shakespeare’s comedies. Like most of us, I attach a lot of sentimentality to that nineties film adaptation of Kenneth Brannagh’s, and so just as people will flock to see an old favourite, it will also mean they can be sharp critics. I think the hard thing with Shakespeare is not to sink into the well-worn ruts of how the play has been staged before. I think it’s not just the challenges of a text that is four centuries old, but the ghosts of other productions that are on stage with you, that arrive pre-formed in the minds of the audience when they take their seats. Adding to the text helps own it, I think - Celeste has done a beautiful job of setting a musical score to the production. There are some real aural treats in store for the show!

Have you written a play?

Not yet, but I’d love to. I have a few ideas cogitating. My writing has been mainly academic or poetic, not theatrical. I’m really interested in the tension between page and voice, and I was involved in a spoken word poetry crew Rising Voices last year that helped me explore that. At the moment, that format is the way for me to make what I want to make, and say what I want to say. But I wouldn’t rule out the idea of writing a play.

Thoughts on the New Zealand theatre scene?

Those of us who love it have to start making our own opportunities to tell stories. I say that mostly to myself. I think the key to keeping creatively active in a very small scene is to keep collaborating, keep contacting and keep trying new things. We are well aware here that there isn’t much money floating around. But I think we have to keep making, regardless.

If Shakespeare was alive today, what would you tell him?

To write a show with an all-female cast!

By Olivia Young

Much Ado About Nothing runs from 3rd March until 24th March 2012 on the University of Auckland Clocktower Lawn.
Tickets are available for purchase from the Maidment Theatre.