Much Ado About Nothing (review)

Much Ado About Nothing plays best, in my experience, when it conveys Shakespeare’s chiaroscuro—when it is sketched darkly, with cynical bites and the threat of tragedy, and illuminated by the physical and verbal comedy that washes away its moments of doubt. Under the light-handed direction of Jim Warren, the American Shakespeare Center’s production focused its attention on the actors and their lines rather than relying on highly produced values in the set, props, sound, or lighting. The understated space of the Blackfriars Playhouse, a lovely recreation of the indoor renaissance playhouse, complements the company’s directive not to over-produce their stage-work: together, the space and this directive dictate many of the constraints within which the company operates, and the productions flourish along with the dynamism the cast brings to the stage. The directive not to create a refined product does have its drawbacks, however, and the chiaroscuro demanded by the play was itself occasionally washed out when the troupe’s exuberance overwhelmed Much Ado’s gravity.

The ASC has produced Much Ado with some frequency—most recently in the 2003 and 2006 seasons—although with varied casts. The opening repartee between Beatrice (Sarah Fallon) and Benedick (René Thornton, Jr.) in this production showed them enjoying the scene as they chomped at the ends of one another’s lines to deliver their own with gusto. While this particular rendition of the play was not quickly assembled, as are the repertory offerings this company has performed under the heading of the Actor’s Renaissance Season since 2005, the effects of their yearly experiments with early modern repertory and staging practice (fast turnaround, significant doubling, lighter directing) carried over into the work the troupe brought to this show. In the present production, James Keegan’s

Victoria Reinsel (left front) as Hero, Sarah Fallon (right front) as Beatrice, James Keegan (left rear) as Leonato, and René Thornton, Jr. (right rear) as Benedick in the American Shakespeare Center’s 2009 production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Jim Warren. Photo by Tommy Thompson.

vigorous Leonato was at once a gracious lord and quite capable of the outrage his character demands upon witnessing the accusations a bewildered Hero (Victoria Reinsel) suffers. And yet, in one of the under-played pairings in this production, I had difficulty accepting the strained filial relationship between Don Pedro and Don John because Luke Eddy’s Don John was neither brooding nor scheming: he seemed to be acting out like a malicious child denied a sought-after toy rather than a man possessed of the villainy to disrupt Messina’s well-being. This disruption cannot be treated lightly, and yet the energy that the troupe effectively brought to the stage was here transformed into a kind of enervated worry passed from character to character. The most excellent exception to the disrupted marriage plot was apprentice Victoria Reinsel’s Hero, who conveyed deep pain as she lamented the claim against her good name.

Of course the raw mistrust shown at such moments must give way to a mature affection, and this was where the ASC production shined. Alison Glenzer played Borachio with a wonderfully physical humor that should have complemented Dogberry’s antics, although director Jim Warren decided to have Christopher Seiler play Dogberry against this tradition of physical comedy in order to place the verbal miscues at the heart of his humor: “Though I believe some wonderful slapstick can live comfortably in...