See Shakespeare Under the Stars for Free in Austin
Pack a picnic for "Much Ado About Nothing" playing at the Zilker Hillside Theater now through May 24
To borrow from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”: “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” — for free Shakespeare in Zilker Park has returned. This year’s rollicking love story, “Much Ado About Nothing,” runs Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through May 24, including a performance with ASL interpretation on May 21.
Bring a low chair, a picnic and maybe a bathing suit to dip into nearby Barton Springs before showtime, then watch the sunset unfurl over one of Shakespeare’s most beloved shows.
Artistic Director Ann Ciccolella says “Much Ado About Nothing,” is a favorite of hers. The two main characters, Benedick and Beatrice, are reluctant lovers; they are callous to each other, yet behind their backs, their friends aggressively scheme to bring them together. Meanwhile, soldier Claudio meets young maiden Hero and instantly falls in love, but a cruel trick is pulled on them before they can reach their wedding day.
“The show is sentimental and physical,” Ciccolella says. “There’s a lot of terrific energy and romance.”
Characters crawl along floors and hide behind walls in slapstick attempts to overhear forbidden conversations. There are bitter heartbreaks and sinister plots; a faked death — classic Shakespeare — occurs before the forthcoming happy ending.
A night on the Zilker Hillside
On opening night, dozens of people sat on blankets along the hillside at Zilker Hillside Theater on a jacket-weather spring evening. They bought candy and shaved ice from the concessions stand, then delighted in the biting humor and wanton romance of one of Shakespeare’s lighter pieces.
Austin Shakespeare has been molding Elizabethan shows to Austonian audiences since 1984; this version is set in 1950s Italy, with stage dressings recalling Federico Fellini — stark black-and-white archways and Cubist shapes, plus a marble statue of a naked, muscular young man — and actors donning classic sundresses and three-piece suits. Yet the acting feels thoroughly modern, with a funny, expressive cast that makes the language easy to follow, even for Shakespeare newcomers.
Eighteen actors grace the stage, about half of whom have performed with Austin Shakespeare before. Nick Lawson, who plays the hilarious Benedick, and Kate Glasheen, witty and loyal Beatrice, are both members of the Actors’ Equity Association, as well as professors in the theater department at Texas State. The play also features music and dancing, including a rock ’n’ roll retelling of a Shakespearean song created and sung onstage by one of the actors.
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The power of Shakespeare
A.Y. Oza, the 42-year-old Austinite who plays Claudio, says Shakespeare has a really strong connection to his heart. He attended film school and studied acting in college, but eventually left those passions behind to pursue a 15-year career as an environmental scientist.
“Then my son was born, and I had this moment of, what kind of a man do I want to be as he grows up, and what do I want him to get to know (about who I am)?” Oza says.
He transitioned to consulting work so he could pursue acting full time. In 2022, he moved to Austin from Washington, D.C., where his final project involved working on COVID legislation with the federal government. Since then, he has appeared in several Austin Shakespeare shows.
“This is definitely what I was born to do,” he says.
Oza remembers the significant impact free Shakespeare in the park had on him when he was growing up outside of St. Louis.
“That was the first place that I saw in theater people of color on stage in very prominent roles,” he says. “I hadn’t even seen an interracial relationship until I saw ‘Much Ado’ when I was eight in St. Louis.”
Oza believes Shakespeare is one of the most inclusive and open areas of theater there is.
“One of the important parts of art is that it’s there to hold up this mirror and really show us who we are at that moment in time,” he says.
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