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The Actors’ Gang gift to area families are free performances of a new production – Much Ado About Pooh, a 45 minute mash-up playing every Saturday and Sunday from August 5 – 27 at 11:00am. With these summer shows, The Actors’ Gang combines a great Shakespeare comedy with some of the most popular and beloved characters, readily identifiable with audiences of all ages.
The show takes place in downtown Culver City at Media Park and is free admission. Media Park is at 9070 W. Venice Blvd., Culver City 90232 and is adjacent to The Actors’ Gang Theater. For reservations – highly suggested, please visit theactorsgang.com.
Since 2006, The Actors’ Gang has connected new and younger audiences to Shakespeare by pairing those stories with popular characters – including Harry Potter Hamlet and Toy Story Tempest. The upcoming Much Ado About Pooh is the 16th production and continues the tradition by telling the tale of Much Ado About Nothing through the lovable characters of Winnie the Pooh.
A prince, Christopher Robin (Don Pedro), his two friends, Pooh and Tigger (Claudio and Benedick), and his disgruntled brother, Eeyore (Don John), decide to visit a lord and his family in the Hundred Acre wood. This lord, Owl (Leonato), has a daughter named Piglet (Hero) and a niece named Rabbit (Beatrice) who forge friendships with these visitors. Their adventures are rife with mistaken conversations – some innocently misinterpreted, some wrongly intended. There is jealousy, trickery and deceit, but just as in both classic tales, the truth comes out in the end, and everyone is better friends for it.
Much Ado About Pooh was written by Rynn Vogel, directed by Adam J. Jefferis, and is presented by The Actors’ Gang ensemble. Director Adam J. Jefferis said, “Every summer we find ways to bring Shakespeare to family audiences through the lens of familiar and beloved characters that they already know. Come and enjoy your favorite characters in an all-new way through a stuffed tail as old as time.”
This performance is made possible in part by the City of Culver City and its Cultural Affairs Commission, with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Culver City Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
