Much Ado About Nothing at Boston Common

Much Ado About Nothing

Boston Common
139 Tremont St Boston

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's most popular and frequently performed plays. The plot revolves around two couples - witty Beatrice and Benedick, who publicly proclaim their disdain for each other but fall madly in love; and naive Hero and Claudio, who fall quickly in love only to be thwarted and then reunited (in both cases, with a bit of help from their friends). But it's more than just a comedic romp. The play tackles serious themes too: trust and betrayal, power and privilege, gendered expectations around chastity and violence. This is a comedy entangled with a tragedy, where love and justice nevertheless manage to prevail with vigorous joy - a perfect play for our uncertain times. Our production sets Shakespeare's hilarious tale of wits and wills among the vibrant and re-defining time of the 1990s.

Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company

Thru - Aug 7, 2022

Show Type: Comedy

commshakes.org

Much Ado About Nothing Reviews

Average Rating based on 4 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

The Boston Globe - Recommended

"...Unfolding in a brisk, intermissionless two hours (Mother Nature cooperated Wednesday night, conferring temperate climes on the proceedings), it is broadly acted by a cast of nearly two dozen on Lawrence E. Moten III's elegant, two-level set, flanked by curved staircases. The show is suffused with music, and enlivened by costumes (by Kathleen Doyle) that create an onstage riot of pink, orange, green, and purple. The great John Kuntz gets to wear some of the more elaborate costumes - and early on in the show Kuntz snaps open a fan with practiced elan. Young actors, take note."

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- Don Aucoin

WBUR - Highly Recommended

"...Like a lot of Shakespeare’s work, there’s romance, verbal sparring and a remarkable betrayal. And though I’m no Shakespeare die-hard, the terrific cast coupled with the nostalgic music and costumes from the 1990s performed beneath the cover of night made for a special evening."

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- Jacquinn Sinclair

The Arts Fuse - Recommended

"...The other performances are pretty much located on the broad musical comedy end of the spectrum. As Antonio, Leonato’s “brother,” John Kuntz is a technicolor clothes horse. He and Airaldi’s Leonato seem to be auditioning for a road show production of La Cage Aux Folles. Many of the Bard’s clowns have not aged well and, for me, Dogberry is among the moldiest, a one-or-two trick malapropist. Thankfully, the fumbling of the constable has been effectively cut back here. Debra Wise generates laughs as the bumbling leader of a crew of wind-up-toy boy scouts, but it is a sure sign of defeat when Dogberry and her fellow officers are asked to pull out kazoos. Gunnar Manchester’s Don John comes off as a male model scorned; Sarah Corey supplies engaging bluster as the lead henchperson, Borachio. Michael Underhill’s Don Pedro is smugly cynical."

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- Bill Marx

Joyce's Choices - Recommended

"...Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian immediately sets this production in motion on a classic, graceful, beautifully lit (Eric Southern, Maximo Grano De Oro) set, overlayed with the style and spirit of the more recent past. The bombastic, big-haired 80’s have given way to grungy 90’s tulle and torn fishnets (Kathleen Doyle, Miranda Guirleo) with a pinch of hilarious deadpan attitude and a dollop of 90’s hip hop, running man, and electric line dancing (Levi Philip Marsman). Add to this, a diversified gambol across the gender/sexual identity spectrum: Beatrice and Benedick and Borachio are all played by women, a fresh extension of the fluid identity tropes Shakespeare embeds in his comedies, which were originally conflated in The Bard’s day when male actors played female parts, then–per the dictates of plot– cross dressed to disguise their identities!"

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- Joyce Kulhawik

Much Ado About Nothing at Boston Common