William Shakespeare wrote the romantic comedy, “Much Ado About Nothing” over 400 years ago. Since then, it has played around the world and in the 20th century alone, has won numerous awards with some of the most famous actors portraying the roles. Originally written in five short acts, contemporary theaters have been presenting it in two longer acts. And let me say from the start, it’s not about nothing- it’s much ado about relationships and connections, about deception and truth.
The essence of the story is the love or lack of love between Claudio (Trevor William Fayle) and Hero (Cheyenne Parks) and between Beatrice (Karen Peakes) and Benedick (J Hernandez). An insurrection by Don John, the half-brother, of the prince, has just been squashed and there is joy in the land as one of the returning heroes, Claudio, seeks to court and marry the daughter of Governor Leonato. He is encouraged by Leonato and while Claudio is shy, the prince, Don Pedro, will secretly propose for him at a masked ball.
Don Pedro also vows that his friend Benedick, will be the next target for setting up a marriage- Benedick is determined never to marry. Leonato’s niece, Beatrice, also doesn’t seek a marriage and is always verbally sparring with Benedick. With the help of others, Don Pedro fabricates stories while Beatrice and Benedick are within earshot and believe them. It’s most entertaining for us.
While many overhear the staged scenes meant to encourage marriage, the angry bastard brother, Don John (Jered McLenigan who also plays Don Pedro) has heard of the impending marriage and tries to foil it by staging an infidelity scene around Hero. Some believe what they saw while others do not,
Will Hero survive the false accusation? Will Beatrice and Benedick succumb to the trickery and get together? The themes are timeless, though there are a few caricatures, it is, after all, a comedy. However, Director Charles McMahon could do with a little more nuance. The other suggestion I have for him is to slow down the very fast-talking conversations that are hard to absorb and challenging to understand at times.
The most difficult part of the play for me was the language I was often struggling to understand some of what was going on on the stage as I was translating Shakespearian English to modern English in my head. When I read his plays in high school and college, I always bought an edition that had side-by-side old and modern versions. I highly recommend reading a summary of the play beforehand, both to get the meaning and to recognize some of the characters since there is double casting. With such a large cast, it requires double casting to make it affordable to mount such a production.. Hernandez and Peakes were outstanding as Benedick and Beatrice. In fact, the entire ensemble was great.
There is one more facet to the play- that is the comic relief provided by Tony Lawton as Dogberry. Some of it was written by Shakespeare but the Bard of Avon encouraged productions to allow the actor portraying Dogberry to improvise. Lawton is great!
It’s a good production, but remember, if you don’t know the story, read a summary of it first before seeing it.
“Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare at Lantern Theater Company at St. Stephen’s Theater, 923 Ludlow St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. 215-829-0399 lanterntheater.org thru March 16, 2025
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 