Mucho Dificultad Sobre Nada
Reviewed 12/9/05
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rob Evans
The
Shakespeare Theatre
Phoenix Theatre's Little Theatre, Phoenix
(602) 796-2038
December 9th - 23rd, 2005
$10.00 - $15.00
Discount tickets may be available
at 
The award for most enjoyable banter from a Shakespearean couple would, in my mind, have to be given to Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. These two avowed disdainers of love and marriage ultimately prove the line about protesting too much. When the two start sniping love and each other, you can’t help but laugh. For The Shakespeare Theatre’s production of this nearly tragic comedy, director Rob Evans has transported the whole of Messina to revolutionary Mexico at the start of the last century. Here, the men wear sashes and the women go barefoot, signore has been transformed to senor, and Dogberry (Keith Nagel) wears a sombrero as big as a pinwheel. It’s a clever choice, one that is enhanced by a few strong performances and Michael Bradley’s Mexican flavored original score.
Wes
Martin and Kelley Guarneri bring
to life this production’s feuding couple tricked into betraying
their assertions. Before I offer comments, I do have one question: What
inspires an actress to repeat a role exatly a year after
performing it? I welcome responses.
Guarneri and Martin make a fun couple: Martin hilariously turns Benedick
into a blowhard buffoon, which makes him ripe for a comeuppance; Guarneri’s
characterization of Beatrice this go around is a little lighter, freer,
and less threatening. When dealing with the deception of this couple,
Evans comes up with his most interesting and funny blocking. The mirroring
couple of young and virtuous Hero (Dana Patch)
and noble Claudio (her real-life hubby BenPatch)
is not quite as animated. Ben is unenergetically earnest when proclaiming
his love or protesting his deception, and Dana is too subdued, making
few strong choices for her admittedly demure role. Too often, her virtue
is portrayed with down turned eyes, obscuring her face.
Lyman Akers’ princely Don Pedro is a good-natured creation lacking in regal bravado, and his illegitimate brother Don John is played as an obvious villain by Dave Hurley, keeping at one level throughout. Don John’s henchmen (Edward Rose and Drew Miller) are played with much too modern a tone. Mark Broadley’s Leonato succeeds in portraying the character’s multiple levels of joy and torment. Nagel’s Dogberry is an enigmatic creation. Evans has chosen to have Nagel go over the top with lots of funny choices, but this is a thoroughly un-P.C. creation that could be seen as offensive, even as it creates gales of laughter.
Richard Hardt’s strong set design is eye-catching and fully functional. Akers’ lighting has many nice touches and levels, while Sheila Clayden’s costumes are on-a-shoestring representations that succeed in implication more than in realism.
-30-
