Performances (outdoor): July 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21

Character List

Beatrice (F 20s-30s) – Leonato’s niece and Hero’s cousin. Beatrice is “a pleasant-spirited lady” with a very sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but, like Benedick, continually mocks other people with elaborately tooled jokes and puns. She wages a war of wits against Benedick and often wins the battles. 

Benedick (M 20s-30s) – A gentleman soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a friend of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns. He carries on a “merry war” of wits with Beatrice. 

Claudio (M 20s) – A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the recent wars. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon his return to Messina. Though he is valiant and loving, he is unfortunately gullible, quick to believe nasty rumors. 

Hero (F 20s) – The beautiful young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is lovely, gentle, and innocent. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her. 

Don Pedro (M 20s-40s) – An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred to as “Prince.” Don Pedro is a longtime friend of Leonato, Hero’s father, and is also close to the soldiers who have been fighting under him—the younger Benedick and the very young Claudio. Don Pedro is generous, courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends. He is the most politically and socially powerful character in the play. 

Leonato (M 50s+) – A respected, well-to-do, elderly noble at whose home, in Messina, Italy, the action is set. Leonato is the father of Hero and the uncle of Beatrice. As governor of Messina, he is second in social power only to Don Pedro. 

Don John (M 20s-40s) – The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro; sometimes called “the Bastard.” Don John is melancholy and sullen by nature, and he creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Hero and Claudio. He is the villain of the play; his evil actions are motivated by his envy of his brother’s power and authority. 

Margaret (F 20s-30s) – Hero’s serving woman, who unwittingly helps Borachio and Don John deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful. Unlike Ursula, Hero’s other lady-in-waiting, Margaret is lower class. 

Borachio (M 20s-30s) – An associate of Don John. Borachio is the lover of Margaret, Hero’s serving woman. He conspires with Don John to trick Claudio and Don Pedro into thinking that Hero is unfaithful to Claudio. 

Conrad (M or F 20s-40s) – One of Don John’s more intimate associates, entirely devoted to Don John and his schemes. 

Dogberry (M or F 30s+) – The constable in charge of the Watch, or chief policeman, of Messina. Dogberry is very sincere and takes his job seriously, but he has a habit of using exactly the wrong word to convey his meaning. Dogberry is one of the few “middling sort,” or middle-class characters, in the play, though his desire to speak formally and elaborately like the noblemen becomes an occasion for parody. 

Verges (M or F 20s+) – The deputy to Dogberry, chief policeman of Messina. 

Antonio (M 50s+) – Leonato’s elderly brother and Hero’s uncle. He is Beatrice’s father. 

Balthasar (M 30s-40s) – A waiting man in Leonato’s household and a musician. Balthasar flirts with Margaret at the masked party and helps Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. Balthasar sings the song, “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” about accepting men’s infidelity as natural. 

Ursula (F 30s-50s) – One of Hero’s waiting women.

Others – Watchmen, Messengers, etc

UPDATED 4/11/19