William Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ to be performed next year

By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY BROWN BOX THEATRE
Actors from the Brown Box Theatre perform Shakespeare’s “Measure from Measure” in downtown Berlin in 2019. This year’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing” has been postponed because of social distancing restrictions.

(Sept. 3, 2020) The annual outdoor production of William Shakespeare’s work in downtown Berlin has been canceled for Sept. 5 because of coronavirus concerns.

“To have even a one-day, one-night only event in downtown Berlin, everyone at Brown Box works for almost an entire calendar year to prepare that production, rehearse that production, develop it and tour it,” said Kyler Taustin, the executive artistic director at Brown Box Theatre.

Although the CDC has provided guidelines for outdoor events during the pandemic, the Brown Box Theatre was restricted during the development process earlier this summer for indoor rehearsal venues.

“The limitations on the number of people allowed to assemble where we typically develop our work were still in place, and we could not actually rehearse the play,” Taustin said.

The total cast and crew members needed to create, produce and market the production ranges from 30-45 people, he added. Roughly 20 of those members tour.

“We also had to take into account having that large sum of people in dorm-style living when we are traveling from one place to the next in close proximity in cars … and while we could have quarantined together in some facet, again that couldn’t happen in the development process,” Taustin said.

Additionally, the tour was scheduled to stop at almost 45 venues in four states.

“We were also being very cognizant to the fact that we wanted to make sure that we’re protecting the communities that we were entering into,” Taustin said. “With the variance in rules from state to state and sometimes even county to county, we had to be thoughtful about whether it was practical for us to be bringing in 15 to 20 people to a different place every other day.”

This summer’s production was supposed to be “Much Ado About Nothing.”

“It was selected sometime in the late fall of last year and was cast in February, so we had the entire cast and crew hired and ready to go in the early winter months, and then we built the set in its entirety down in Maryland in March,” Taustin said.

Taustin said last year’s production brought between 300 to 400 viewers, filling up Pitts Street.

“It was one of our [largest] crowds we’ve ever had,” he added. “That also would have had to be very thoughtfully organized to make sure that social distancing could be maintained.”

The shows scheduled in Maryland for 2020 have been postponed to 2021.

“We will be back in Worcester County in May of next year,” Taustin said. “We’ve already booked our date with downtown Berlin and are excited to be there again.”

Brown Box Theatre will also perform “Much Ado About Nothing” in Pocomoke, Snow Hill and Ocean City next year.

“We, as theater artists, are excited and ready to share our work, and we know it is important and critical for society and for community to have events like this,” Taustin said. “We are here to stay and excited to be back with everybody we serve, especially in my hometown of Berlin, as soon as possible.”

For more information about the Brown Box Theatre, visit the company’s website at brownboxtheatre. org.