Much ado about Kate

An exclusive to the Sun by George Webber

Kate Kennedy, director of Sonoma Shakespeare’s Avalon Players, is a fireball, a cataclysm, an explosion of energy who, by molding and shaping the energy of others, doth continue and flourish as a worthy champion of the Bard.

The language different, and ‘tis believed hard to learn, yet for those able to navigate no greater journey ever taken. And for children, even, the world of Shakespeare is accessible and deeply fulfilling— for those lucky young thespians who possess a worthy teacher. This, most assuredly, describes Sonoma’s Kate Kennedy.

Acting is for the youth, and Kate made her first appearance upon the boards at the age of five as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, in St. Joseph Minnesota. Always acting, it was in high school she realized directing would be her greatest passion. Kate toured the northeast and Canada for two years with a commedia dell’arte company; upon arriving in California she spent another four years touring the Northwest in a Shakespeare company.

“We performed in Golden Gate Park, on top of the Montreal Arts Center,” Kate says, “staging plays in a wide variety of outdoor settings.”

On one of my tours, she discovered Sonoma. Kate says: “I looked around, and said to myself, I am home.”

This year is the 35th year of her Sonoma Shakespeare company: Avalon Players. “I met the owner of Buena Vista Winery in 1980, and was immediately drawn to the possibility of performing Shakespeare around the fountain, and in front of the majestic stone Champagne Cellars, it provided such a beautiful backdrop.  I imagined families and friends enjoying a glass of wine and sharing a picnic while watching Shakespeare under the stars.”

Breaking the “fourth-wall” is Kate’s particular joy, and over the years audiences have enjoyed unique experiences with actors appearing all around them. “Our actors sip their wine, answer a phone if it rings, flirt with their girlfriends, and the audience is completely involved throughout the evening.” Highlights have included an energetic sword fight in Romeo and Juliet between Tybalt and Mercutio—with Mercutio dying in the fountain. “When Juliet appeared on the second floor balcony of the Cellars it was stunning,” Kate remembers, “and when Romeo finds Juliet in the tomb, the cave fully lit with candles in the background… heartbreaking!”

Many years at Buena Vista ended for Kate when the winery changed hands in the early 2000s, but when international wine entrepreneur Jean-Charles Boisset purchased the winery in 2011, the chorus became overwhelming from Sonoma’s theatre lovers: Shakespeare must return to Buena Vista!

Bowing to the constant lobbying, Boisset brought Kate and her Avalon Players back in 2012, upon completion of the earthquake retrofit of the Champagne Cellars. “We are overjoyed to have Kate and her marvelous actors bringing a deep sense of culture to Buena Vista;” says Boisset, “my wife, children, and friends can’t wait to see this year’s production!”

“Much Ado About Nothing” is Kate’s selection for 2015. “This play has it all,” Kate says, “Love, comedy, dancing, betrayal, and an ending that makes Shakespeare under the stars an epic evening!”

And so the tale is told, the Bard continues his reign o’er us all, and the ancient words are brought forth yet again — at a most congenial and worthy home under the stars.

“Much Ado About Nothing,” outdoors at Buena Vista Winery, Thursdays through Sundays, August 13-30. Seating at 6, show at 7 p.m.Tickets $35, students under 18, $20. VIP tables available. Buena Vista Winery, 18000 Old Winery Road. Sonomashakespeare.com.