Director Anthony McKay has given Shakespeare a swinging makeover in this update of the hilarious Much Ado About Nothing. Nineteen-sixties Italy provides a visually pleasing aesthetic and a strong vehicle for the action. With live music, dance, visual effects and electric dialogue, this is a lavish production. Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama has clearly done its research in culturally reinterpreting this play, and there are times when viewers have to remind themselves that it’s a university production they’re watching.
The play revolves around the secretly plotted marriage of the unknowing Benedick (Josh Grosso) and Beatrice (Molly Griggs), a plan led by Prince Don Pedro (Chris Garber). Grosso’s and Griggs’ Benedick and Beatrice are a pair armed to the teeth with Shakespearean wit, and the two actors bounce off each other with skillful command. The audience loved Grosso’s monologues, and for good reason: His delivery was first-rate and his characterized interactions with those in the front row was delightful. It is a war of wits watching him and Griggs, and the audience’s heads swivel back and forth as if it were a tennis match.
In the Bard’s silliest and most light-hearted play, there is a lot of potential for fun on stage. And from the start, CMU’s School of Drama wanted to impress. The opening scene is a sensational ensemble effort depicting a busy Italian town; there’s a band playing, a priest on a bicycle, and a military parade. The audience doesn’t know where to look.
At times, there were fears that the show relied too heavily on the aesthetic. And although the production was impressive, the cast’s delivery of Shakespeare’s language wasn’t in any way updated in the same way as was every other aspect. A difficult job, yes, but one that can be done.
On the other hand, the actors’ manipulation of setting and props was knit together in an exciting and accomplished ensemble effort, with a lot of laughter as a result. This is a Shakespearean farce of foolish asides and mistaken identity. The audience loved watching it because, quite simply, it’s a lot of fun.
This article appears in Oct 14-20, 2015.
CMU provides arguably the finest dramatic education in the country. It is incumbent on them to instruct their students on performing Shakespeare in the language it which it was written. This is a skill they may never need to use again but it instills in them a discipline and dedication to handle whatever dramatic requirements are given to them.
John R, you wrote “the language in which it was written.” Do you mean they should perform it in the manner in which it was first performed? The language of the play – and thus production – is English. There was no modification of the script in CMU’s production. I’m confused
So John R must also then be advocating Romeo And Juliet only being played by males, as the roles were played by Shakespeare’s men, and that the audience must stand and in full light through the shows too.
I think John R was responding to “the cast’s delivery of Shakespeare’s language wasn’t in any way updated in the same way as was every other aspect”. Which, at first glance, may seem like to say that the dialogue itself should have been updated; however, the key here is the emphasis on delivery.
He is very correct to say that actors ought to have experience performing Shakespearean language – his plays are so widely performed that every actor or actress would benefit with some experience with the Bard. And it teaches performers the importance of language.
And while the majority of productions do successfully adapt and change in performance style and setting, it’s worth noting that some brilliant recent performances have had all male casts (see the Globe’s “Twelfth Night” and “Richard III” starring Mark Rylance).