FEMALE TO FEMALE // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING"
In the recent run of Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (which played at The Brick Theatre in Williamsburg Brooklyn during its "Shakespeare in the Theater" festival), Director Emma Rosa Went goes back to the beginning and takes inspiration from the first days of The Bard's work: She cast one sex to play all of the roles. However, all of the roles this time are played by women, no matter of the sex of the character. Much Ado is a tricky piece to pull off because it begins very light and dark and then the tone turns much darker. There's also several often debated moments within the play, such as how fast all of the men go to believe that the character of Hero, on the eve of her wedding day, would cheat on her fiancée and since they believe she did spurn her almost immediately. But Director Went and the game cast all tackle it head on, mixing in both moments that work extremely well and those that don't quite reach the same height.
Ashley Morton is fantastic here as Beatrice, a snarky strong woman who thinks very highly of her friends and very little of the lothario Benedick (an also strong Olivia Rose Baressi). Both are sharply clever and funny, and possess a great of perfect comic timing. Once their friends begin meddling into their affairs both Beatrice and Benedick are fooled into thinking that the other is in love with them, they both have to face the realization of lingering feelings for each other, which since this is Shakespeare come brewing to the top very fast. The sequence where Beatrice and Benedick are fooled into thinking each are talking fondly of the other has them hiding among hanging laundry, baskets and more and the staging is simply delightful (and quite, quite funny). Though this is the frothy relationship. The darker story comes from within Claudio (Hailey Bachrach) being deceived by Don John (Jaine Ye) that his soon to be bride Hero (Isabella Dawis) has been unfaithful and still is to this day. This sets of a chain of very bad reactions (and overreactions), ending with the young Hero in tears, having no idea what caused the chaos around. But revenge is rarely left out in the cold with a Shakespeare text.
The set design is bare for the most part, only occasionally things are hung and created in front of us, which works fine in the black box setting they have. Sadly, even in a space as intimate and small as The Brick, several actors swallowed their lines, partially and on a few occasions completely, making it difficult to follow. Natasha Cole brings on an acoustic guitar several times throughout and strums music along which could have led to a great effect. Oddly though, she strums it so softly you can't ever make out any of it and made me wonder if she actually could play at all or if it simply was just a device or another set piece. The foolish characters, led by Irina Kaplan's Dogberry, are all very broad but rarely react to the reality around them, making for some very long pauses between lines and underappreciated laughs. However, a lot of the play did work, and though it felt like a workshop presenting ideas for a bigger production later on, the charm did swell on you. Simone Elizabeth Bart's choreography is charming and swift and you simply never want to stop watching Morton and Baressi either go at each other or try to awkwardly woe the other. And though the broad comedy and final moments don't work, enough of it does to make a pleasant evening at the theatre. Hopefully more productions will use the idea of an all-female cast presenting Shakespeare. It's about time some fantastic actresses get their due with the countless meaty male roles The Bard has written.
Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Emma Rosa Went Starring Hailey Bachrach, Olivia Rose Baressi, Simone Elizabeth Bart, Natasha Cole, Isabella Dawis, Zoe Goslin, Elissa Levitt, Irina Kaplan, Ashley Morton, and Jaine Ye. Now closed but most recently played at: The Brick Theatre, 575 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg Brooklyn
MATEO MORENO is an actor, writer, and a playwright. His plays Happily After Tonight, Within Our Walls, Bohemian Valentine and Paper Airplanes have been produced in NY and beyond. He most recently co-starred in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play City of Glass at The New Ohio Theatre and appeared in the workshop of Hamlet, or I Shall Mourn The Rivers at The Brick Theatre. He is currently workshopping his new play Fairground Attraction as part of Athena Theatre's 2016 Playwrighting Group. He lives in Brooklyn.