[NEohioPAL] Review of Great Lakes Theater's "Much Ado About Nothing"

[Bob Abelman]

Great Lakes Theater does a delightful 'Much Ado' make-over

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 4/12/13

 

 

Beatrice and Benedick have been bickering for over 400 years and, remarkably, it never gets old.  Although Shakespeare did not invent the "I hate you/I love you" dynamic tension that drives romantic comedies, the hesitant affection these two display in "Much Ado About Nothing," on stage at Great Lakes' Hanna Theatre, is as good as it gets.

 

Returning from war, Don Pedro (David Anthony Smith), Prince of Aragon, his two friends and noblemen Benedick (J. Todd Adams) and Claudio (Neil Brookshire), and Don Pedro's bastard brother Don John (Juan Rivera Lebron) are guests at the home of Leonato (David McCan), the governor of Messina.  While being wined and dined, the young Claudio is attracted to, woos and wins the lovely Hero (Betsy Mugavero), the governor's daughter, while confirmed bachelor Benedick reignites his much fraught relationship with Leonato's niece, the man-hating, marriage-repelling spitfire Beatrice (Cassandra Bissell).  While Don Pedro creates a clever deception that will hopefully bring Beatrice and Benedick together, the black-hearted Don John plots to ruin the festivities by maliciously undermining Hero's reputation and destroying her pending marriage to Claudio.

 

What makes "Much Ado" so intriguing is that the vast majority of its gloriously overstuffed sentences are written in prose rather than the poetic verse that typically dominates Shakespeare's comedies.  This gives "Much Ado" a more modern feel, which not only renders it more accessible to today's audiences but makes it particularly amenable to a restaging in more modern times-something Great Lakes Theater does remarkably well and with relish.

 

When last performed 12 years ago, Great Lakes' troupe transported this play to post-World War II Italy.  This time around, the post-World War I era serves as its backdrop.  

 

While many of these restagings of the Bard's work are intended to shed light or offer perspective on the work itself-such as turning the 1590s reverie "A Midsummer's Night Dream" into a 1960s hallucination-this production merely employs time travel for the fun of it.  A jazz-era motif gives way to Esther M. Haberlen eye-candy costuming and Martín Céspedes' delightful ragtime choreography, and allows the two, stale Elizabethan songs to become something Rudy Vallée would have crooned.  It also, arguably, gives the director license to reduce Shakespeare's five-act text to a more conformative and comfortable two.  

 

The post-World War I context also justifies the Key Stone Cop-like slapstick infused into scenes featuring the addle-minded and asinine Constable Dogberry (a terrific Dougfred Miller) and his wonderfully dim-witted assistant Verges (M.A. Taylor).  It's Dogberry and Verges that discover Don Pedro's deception and, in their own nonsensical and genuinely hilarious way, save the day.  

 

Sharon Ott's brilliant direction gravitates toward and embellishes these and other comedic moments since, as she acknowledges in the playbill's Director's Note, "Much Ado" doesn't have the famous speeches of "As you Like It" or clever subplots of "Twelfth Night."  What it does have in spades is the fascinating dynamic between its central couple.  Amidst the extreme lighthearted and darker elements in this play, a production of "Much Ado" is only as good as its Beatrice and Benedick.  

 

As Beatrice, Bissell delivers a formidable, sharp-tongued and quick-witted feminist while never losing-even when dressed in a man's tuxedo-the alluring feminine qualities that eventually reels in a reluctant Benedick.  Both the character and the actor are forces to be reckoned with.  

 

She is matched by J. Todd Adams as Benedick.  While the two together lack sufficient tension to be believable-dueling with Shakespeare's dialogue as if it were too precious a thing to be vehemently spit out-he, on his own, owns the stage and is at his best when dueling with himself over his conflicted feelings about Beatrice.  In fact, Adams establishes a more affectionate rapport with the audience than he does with Bissell's Beatrice. 

 

These two are surrounded by a talented ensemble of performers, each turning in interesting and complementary performances that give this production a pleasant fluidity and, upon occasion, wings.    

   

"Much Ado About Nothing" continues through April 14 at PlayhouseSquare's Hanna Theatre in downtown Cleveland.  For tickets, which range from $15 to $70, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.greatlakestheater.org.
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