Much Ado About Nothing presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall

Much Ado About Nothing

Sidney Harman Hall
610 F Street NW Washington

This holiday season, fall in love with one of the most romantic comedies ever written, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Everyone can see that Beatrice and Benedick are meant for each other except Beatrice and Benedick. Hero and Claudio, themselves newly betrothed, conspire to trick them into announcing their feelings and falling for each other. Meanwhile, a bitter and troublesome Don John schemes to destroy Claudio and Hero’s engagement by besmirching Hero’s honor. Touted as “one of the hottest directors to come out of Washington” by The Washingtonian, Ethan McSweeny directs Shakespeare’s classic tale of matched wits and love.

Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company

Thru - Jan 7, 2012

Price: $20 - $100

Show Type: Comedy

Running Time: 3 hrs with 1 intermission

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Much Ado About Nothing Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...With the polish of this high-end comic couple — and at the play’s opposite end, the surefire lunacy of its low-comedy pairing of the addle-pated watchmen Dogberry (Ted van Griethuysen) and Verges (that rascally scene-stealer, Floyd King) — the company’s new “Much Ado” has lots of good things going for it. And in many ways, McSweeny’s handling of this comedy’s buoyant plotting is visually and even conceptually superior to his last effort, a “Merchant of Venice” last season that he transplanted from Italy to Manhattan’s immigrant-filled Lower Est Side."

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- Peter Marks

DCist - Highly Recommended

"...The decision to set the play in Cuba has little impact on the story. If anything, it gave the creative team license to incorporate the vibrancy of the island nation into the production design with Lee Savage's beautiful set, Steven Cahill's use of salsa music in the sound design and Clint Ramos's colorful costumes. So in the end, the setting just gave the audience something pretty to look at and listen to, which benefits the experience and serves as a reminder that Shakespeare's plays are living entities that should be watched on stage and not read in a library."

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- Sriram Gopal

MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended

"...Carrying the production with a stunning combination of pizzazz, comic timing and command of Shakespeare, is a breathtaking Derek Smith as Benedick. An antidote to all that has reduced comedy to the terms and timing of the sitcom, Smith adamantly keeps his comic expression and wit-delivery in a place of intelligence and sophistication, even when a bit of slapstick is called for. It's like hearing an orchestra after an organ-grinder with a monkey. And whether wielding his wit or in somber mood, Smith never allows his Benedick to become too much larger than life. There is an entire man evoked here, someone we imagine a life for: a past, a present and, despite his cynicism, a host of future dreams."

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- Kate Wingfield

WeLoveDC - Highly Recommended

"...Where the show really excels is where it needs to – in the humor. If your only experience with Ado is via Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 filmed version you’re in for a pleasant experience; Derek Smith is, for my money, more believable as a man with a sharp edge over his gooey inner hopeful romantic. His conflict over whether he’s really taken seriously by his cohorts is nicely layered and his transition when taking up Beatrice’s cause really clicks; when he shifts from being in uniform to a suit it shows in his carriage as well as his costume."

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- Don

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...In Much Ado, Derek Smith and Kathryn Meisle do a far better job of fending off the supporting riff-raff. Both actors are in their 50s; McSweeny is not going for sexpot appeal here. But both are also fantastic physical comedians, though Meisle, who stepped into the role in a casting change announced three weeks ago, is slightly too tongue-in-cheek to own the role of Lady Tongue. When Smith exclaims, “By this day! She’s a fair lady,” he’s sincere; Meisle’s “Maiden pride, adieu!” profession, by turn, is just playing along."

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- Rebecca J. Ritzel

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...Keep your eyes open for scene stealers! Don Pedro (David Emerson Toney) is quite the reactionary. Toney provides a versatile character, being jovial with a deep laugh and huge smile one moment, evolving into astute leadership when advising Claudio (Ryan Garbayo) on the matters of love, and then with boiling anger after learning of Hero’s (Kate Hurster) betrayal. His expressions are priceless as he responds to everything that is said and his physicality is that expected of an important military leader."

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- Amanda Gunther

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Get thee down to Penn Quarter’s Sidney Harman Hall to behold Shakespeare in the tropics, under the palms, smoldering in the Caribbean sun: it’s the one about the guy who secretly loves the girl who secretly loves him and the other guy who accuses the other girl of scandal on their wedding day and the despicable bad guy and the ludicrous creation named Dogberry.

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- Roy Maurer

Much Ado About Nothing presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall