New Winchester theatre group to bring Shakespeare to College Park

Our town’s newest the­atre until recent­ly resided in the hearts of its founders, sis­ters Alissa Abner and Lily Sullivan. But on July 10^th, their dream will sprout wings as the first pro­duc­tion of that dream, Spectacle Theatre Company’s William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, turns out to be quite some­thing. Indeed, the theatre’s name comes from the founders’ desire to make a spec­ta­cle of them­selves on the College Park out­door stage. The show will be per­formed on July 10 and 11 at 6 p.m. and on July 12 at 2 p.m. 

According to Alissa Abner, the plot of Much Ado About Nothing has a lit­tle some­thing for every­one — “it fol­lows Claudio and Hero, who want very much to get mar­ried, but are thwart­ed at every turn; and Beatrice and Benedick, who reject mar­riage, but find them­selves devot­ed to one anoth­er any­way. Despite mis­chie­vous pranks, devi­ous plots, and a faked death, our lovers find their way to a hap­py end­ing with a lit­tle help from their friends.” 

As is true of so many of Shakespeare’s plays, the show runs about three hours. Admission is free, and those attend­ing are encour­aged to bring chairs and blan­kets for a more com­fort­able experience. 

Asked about the cast, Abner said, “I’ll tell you a lit­tle bit about the audi­tions for Benedick and Beatrice. Bill Ballard made it clear that he was not audi­tion­ing, but went along only to sup­port his friend, the tal­ent­ed Rebecca Morgan (our Margaret), and read a scene with her. He per­formed with this con­fi­dent pres­ence, and so I began furi­ous­ly writ­ing notes to Lily. “That’s our Benedick! What do we do?” I asked him if he would con­sid­er throw­ing his hat in the ring and hint­ed pret­ty heav­i­ly that I want­ed him for the role of Benedick. Lucky for us, he said yes, and here we are. 

Kelly Tennille was one of the last audi­tion­ers we saw. She came in, kicked off her Crocs, and deliv­ered an audi­tion that had me in stitch­es. She has this mis­chie­vous qual­i­ty that suits Beatrice so well. They’re both sea­soned actors, and with the two of them on board, I knew we could pull this off. 

The rest of the cast con­sists of some very tal­ent­ed Shakespeare lovers who took a chance on a new com­pa­ny (very grate­ful to have them!) and some ringers from my huge fam­i­ly of the­ater nerds (very grate­ful they put up with me!).” 

The play is being per­formed in College Park because, accord­ing to Lily Sullivan, “grow­ing up in Winchester, we have always loved the stone stage and want to see it in use. April Stanfield at Clark County Parks and Recreation has been so help­ful in facil­i­tat­ing this for us.” 

Though they are now in the process of becom­ing an IRS-rec­og­nized 501(c)(3), both sis­ters have worked hard to bring a com­mu­ni­ty the­atre to life in Winchester. Lily Sullivan said, “My goal is to cre­ate an orga­nized envi­ron­ment that is both invit­ing and fun for com­pa­ny mem­bers and enter­tain­ing for our audiences. 

Alissa Abner, the theatre’s Creative Director and direc­tor of Much Ado, said, “As a direc­tor, I am pas­sion­ate about bring­ing out the best per­for­mance in every actor and cre­at­ing a show that we can all be proud of.” 

Much Ado About Nothing is being per­formed at the College Park amphithe­ater on July 10 and 11, begin­ning at 6:30 each night, and on Sunday, July 12, begin­ning at 2 p.m. In the event of rain, the per­for­mance will be moved to the Hannah McClure Community Center. Admission is free. Bring chairs or a blan­ket and enjoy live out­door theatre. 

Cast & Crew 

Beatrice: Kelley Tennille 
Benedick: Bill Ballard 
Claudio: Kaylee Lloyd 
Hero: Kat Combs 
Don Pedro: Jeremy Abner 
Don John: Maggie Garnett 
Leonato: Mike Abner 
Margaret: Rebecca Morgan 
Ursula: Joanie Kenkel 
Dogberry: Hannah Abner 
Verges: Lindzie Strickland 
Antonia: Lily Sullivan  
Borachio: Gavin Sullivan 
Conrade: Alissa Abner 
The Watch: Lily Sullivan and Scott Kenkel 
The Friar: Joanie Kenkel 
The Sexton: Nico Abner 
The Messenger: Alissa Abner 

Director: Alissa Abner

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