Great Lakes Theatre’s Much Ado About Nothing takes a wry look at courtship and marriage. Director Charles Fee’s quick-moving production offers an evening of laughter as generated by the talented cast. Yes, once again, while jealousy and gossip fail to thwart true love’s success, the complications they provide add to our entertainment and the play’s success.
Set in Sicily at the estate of Leonato the Governor of Messina (David Anthony Smith), the play explores comic misunderstandings which arise (with much ado and upset) as two couples navigate their relationships.
When the story opens, Leonato’s daughter, Hero (the lovely Kailey Boyle), and a young soldier, Claudio (a dashing Domonique Champion), are betrothed. There is much ado when their union is called off by Claudio in the middle of the wedding. He feels betrayed by what he believes is her wanton behavior and so breaks her heart.
The other cause for ado is the relationship between Leonato’s niece, Beatrice (Laura Welsh Berg), and a family friend from Padua, Benedick (Jeffrey C. Hawkins). The two old acquaintances appear to dislike each other. Berg’s Beatrice delivers zingers with aplomb, as does Hawkins’ Benedick, when they spar verbally — which happens whenever they meet. Romcom veterans will recognize that the pair are made for each other, but it takes them the play’s course to discover that fact.
In separate scenes, both Berg and Hawkins excel in physical comedy as they secretly (they think) listen to gossip about themselves. Their actions — over the top pratfalls, peering over walls, falling out of trellises, doing what it takes to make us laugh — create delightful farce.
More farce and mishaps necessary to carry the story forward also come in welcome interludes, thanks to Dogberry (the ever-agile Joe Wegner), police officer Verges (a fussy M.A. Taylor), and the earnest watchman, Hugh Oatcake (a very comic Boe Wank). Mateus Cardoso and Kinza Surani rounded out the merry crew.
To illustrate the power of gossip for good and evil, Much Ado relies on conspiracies. Some are well-intentioned, to unite Beatrice and Benedick, but others, such as Don John’s, are not. With the assistance of his follower, Conrad (Jerrell Williams), the evil Don John (Nick Steen) plots to make others as unhappy as he is. Don Pedro (Lynn Robert Berg) tends to believe the worst about others so believes Don John’s lies.
Hero’s ladies in waiting, Ursula (Jodi Dominick) and Margaret (Mia Soriano), also show how gossip can be good, most of the time. Borachio (James Alexander Rankin) shows how it can be manufactured for evil.
In a laudable economy, Fee has combined two characters, Leonato’s brother, Antonio (played by Aled Davies), and Friar Francis. Aled Davies succeeds in making the idea that Hero’s uncle is also a priest believable. (However, the whole matter then sent my mind off in tangents — who were Beatrice’s parents in Shakespeare’s story? Wasn’t it common for nobles to adopt illegitimate offspring? Maybe she’s Hero’s big sister? Well, never mind, that might be gossip, something the plot tells us is wrong.)
Scenic designer Jeff Herrmann created Leonardo’s idyllic Italianate villa set near the sea. Charming 1920s-era costumes by Alex Jaeger added color and style. Others who assisted in making this complex fantasy a joy were Matthew Webb (sound), Rick Martin (lighting), Sarah Kelso, and Jaclyn Miller.
Bottom Line: Great Lakes Much Ado About Nothing is quite something: a zesty, fun-filled tribute to love’s power (and surprises).