![](\"https:\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Kevin+McDonald+will+bring+his+comedic+talents+to+the+Southern+Shakespeare+Festival+this+weekend&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA4MzU1MzUzMDEzMTkyMzAwMzY5MjY1Mw004)\")
<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":11977,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1137,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Southern Shakespeare Festival is back at Tallahassee\u2019s Cascades Park this weekend, and there will be a traditional special guest star. And this guest is no stranger to fans of TV comedy. The star is Kevin McDonald of \u201cKids in the Hall\u201d fame. He’s also had roles in \u201cFriends,\u201d \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d \u201cThat 70s Show\u201d and a big-screen appearance in the 1996 \u201cKids in the Hall\u201d cinematic spinoff, \u201cBrain Candy.\u201d He said he\u2019d actually been tapped to do a Southern Shakespeare Festival before the pandemic put that happening on hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d asked the Director James Bond, and he as a high school kid had grown up watching \u2018Kids in the Hall.\u2019 And he sort of thought I\u2019d be perfect for it, that I\u2019m funny in that way. Strangely enough, it was for another part. I was supposed to do it two years ago as Malvolio in \u2018Twelfth Night.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an invitation that would remain open.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, they asked me again to do the role of Dogberry in \u2018Much Ado About Nothing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Although an acknowledged master of contemporary comedy, McDonald admitted he needed to know a lot more about the people inhabiting Shakespeare\u2019s world, and how that world might connect to the one we live in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I got a \u2018No Fear Shakespeare.\u2019 The script would be on one side of the page and the next side of the page would explain it in English that I understood. First of all for Mavolio, I said, \u2018This guy\u2019s Frank Burns and the two guys who are teasing him are Hawkeye and Trapper John.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald quickly realized that people don\u2019t really change. Even between 1599 when Shakespeare finished writing \u2018Much Ado About Nothing\u2019 and 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all have the same wants and desires and the language is just a little prettier and more poetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for McDonald, the most daunting challenge is simply remembering all those lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow here at the house I\u2019m staying at, I\u2019m perfect on lines! This morning I was jogging and going over my lines perfect. But when I get on stage with the actors, there\u2019s some nervousness that I\u2019m not used to. I guess it\u2019s a reverence for Shakespeare in a way. I can\u2019t let him down!!! That\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking all the time. So as I get closer to the stage, sometimes the lines blank out. And I\u2019m good at ad-libbing, but you can\u2019t ad-lib Shakespeare!\u201d<\/p>\n
By the way, a local luminary, by the name of Leon Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna, will also be among those on stage with Kevin McDonald. Hanna will portray Sexton in the production. Southern Shakespeare Company\u2019s free Shakespeare in the Park Festival will be held May 5th through the 8th on the Capital City Amphitheater stage at Cascades Park. There will also be performances from Renaissance-themed artists and the company\u2019s junior acting troupe, \u201cThe Bardlings.\u201d Also on the schedule, are readings from the 2022 Sonnet Contest winners, local vendors, food trucks and more. <\/p>\n
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