No one more than Steve Lloyd understands the value of live theatre after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

The Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre executive director was taking a rare vacation in Manhattan on the day two passenger jets slammed into the two World Trade Center towers, killing thousands.

“I’ve been to New York a lot,” said Lloyd, who has performed his play, “Actor and the Assassin” in New York City and leads annual HART trips to the Big Apple. But he had never seen the city like he did that one fateful day. “You never hear New York silent, and New York was silent.”

Planes were grounded. Traffic stopped. Millions were in shock. Lloyd watched the events unfold on the TV screen like so many other Americans. In the days that followed, he was stranded in the city, unable to get a flight home, so he rented a car and drove home.

Since then, Lloyd has taken a careful look at HART’s role in the community. During the run of last month’s comic musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Lloyd made it a point in his opening remarks before each show to explain to the audience that HART’s intention was to warm the heart and ease the mind in a time of terrible tragedy. The audiences needed to hear that it was all right to laugh again, and many came up to Lloyd to express their thanks.

So as HART completes its 2001 season this weekend with the Shakespearean comedy, “Much Ado About Nothing,” audiences are once again welcome to suspend reality for awhile and laugh comfortably.

In its first attempt at a main stage Shakespearean play, HART tackles a timeless tale of love that centers around two couples — Hero and Claudio (played by Caitlin McMahon and Paul Heathman) and Beatrice and Benedick (played by Kane Clawson and Jeff Bahar). While Hero and Claudio share that natural attraction that will inevitably bring them together, Beatrice and Benedick are sworn against succumbing to such madness, so they require their plotting friends to match them up. Throw in a little mischief and misunderstanding, and the once innocent attempt at coupling turns terribly wrong — tragic enough for lovers to swear oaths to kill and seek revenge. But, as the Bard deftly creates demise, so too does he heal troubled hearts. The wrongly accused are redeemed with the help of some bumbling fools and it all works out in the end. Thus comes the title: “Much Ado About Nothing.”

So why did HART chose this comedy out of all the classics as its first legitimate attempt at Shakespeare? Why not “Romeo and Juliet” or “Julius Caesar”?

Lloyd, who directs this show and acts in it as well, said he wanted an easy-going comedy, something different than standard, predictable Shakespeare, and the lavish Kenneth Branaugh film from 1994 sounded like the right fit. At first, Lloyd wanted to duplicate the film as closely as possible, but the more he and his cast got involved with it, the more Lloyd steered away from the film. Branaugh cut about a third of the actual play to do the movie, and HART’s version is using more of the actual play. With the North Carolina Theatre Conference being held at the Performing Arts Center and making use of the main stage, Lloyd had to make sure the set designs could be removed or hidden temporarily. So the set became a little less complicated, though it still attempts to achieve the rich Italian setting in the movie.

“I’ve really been pleased with the cast,” Lloyd said. “They’ve worked extraordinarily hard.”

Don’t expect to see Royal Shakespeare Theatre in perfect British accents, as is the assumption for some diehard Shakespeare fans. Lloyd has worked with the actors to achieve what is known as stage English — a sort of heightened English devoid of any noticeable accents. One of the challenges, according to Lloyd, has been to overarticulate some of the Shakespearean language without compromising the pacing of scenes, making sure the audience can digest the 400-year-old language without dragging the show to a snail’s pace. Some in the cast already have some Shakespearean experience, most notably Lloyd Kay, who has done Shakespeare professionally, and 15-year-old Caitlin McMahon, who has performed Shakespeare with the Montford Park Players in Asheville.

If HART audiences warm to Shakespeare, expect to see more on the main stage in the coming years.

“I would like to do more,” Lloyd said.

Due to the traditionally smaller crowds in November, HART will only be doing five performances of “Much Ado About Nothing” — Nov. 9, 10, 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. and the lone Sunday matinee on Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $6 for students. For all performances of this show, students will get half off the regular price. For more information about this show or to reserve tickets, stop by the HART box office between the hours of 1-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday or call 828.456.6322.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News