During the opening night of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival director Bruce Longworth's merry production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, spontaneous laughs, sighs, and applause punctuated its two-and-a-half hours, and testified to local audiences' appreciation of the Bard -- if only there were more productions from the Classic repertoire at ASF. One need not be afraid of understanding a 400-year-old text when it is delivered with such clarity and assurance.
ASF is publicizing Much Ado as a "rom-com", a term unknown in Elizabethan England, but familiar in our contemporary jargon; so we can anticipate a story focused on romance, replete with lovers whose relationships are tested, along with conventional misunderstandings, deceptions, mishaps, clever dialogue, a duplicitous villain who interferes with wedding plans, and a bumbling policeman who accidentally uncovers the culprit to ensure a happy ending with dancing.
It's the Summer of 1919, some months after the end of World War I, and Don Pedro [Chauncy Thomas] and his retinue of soldiers arrive for a month's stay at Leonato's [J. D. Webster] in Sicily. Young soldier Claudio [Felix Torrez-Ponce] falls in love with Leonato's daughter Hero [Sigrid Wise]; they're a lovely couple we root for immediately.
And sparks fly between affirmed bachelor soldier Benedick [Christopher Gerson] and Hero's cousin Beatrice [Tarah Flanagan] whose long-term spat is carried out with entertaining witty dialogue...to everyone within earshot they're obviously made for each other, though neither of them admit it. They too earn every bit of our admiration, even as we witness their potential embarrassment.
Spoiler alert: With a Claudio-Hero wedding about to transpire, Don Jon [Patrick Halley] plots to stop the celebration by ruining Hero's reputation; and though successful at first, his ploy is discovered by a clownish policeman named Dogberry [French Stewart -- best known for tv's Third Rock from the Sun], whose Act II antics elicit well-earned laughter.
Mr. Longworth's creative team enhance every moment, from Josh Smith's detailed set, to Dottie Marshall Englis's attentive costumes [check the color-coded women's dresses, and her masterfully distinct costumes for actors playing multiple roles], to Nathan W Scheuer's evocative lighting, to Melanie Chen Cole's rich soundscape, and period-sounding music from composers Brien Style and Matt Pace...and of course the ensemble actors bringing Shakespeare's words and characters to life.
Performances end on April 5th, so there's still time to welcome Spring at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's offering of Much Ado About Nothing; it's well worth the effort.
