Much Ado

Much Ado about nothing was one play that I thoroughly enjoyed to the fullest until the very end. This story filled with love, comedy and tragedy lasted three hours but seemed to go by so quickly.  Once I arrived to the theatre I was a bit disappointed that I had to stand for the whole play. Being that this was a Shakespeare production, I was willing to keep an open mind.

Within thirty minutes, I was intrigued by the humor and by how well the four main actors were able to interact. The level of comfort demonstrated by Claudio and Hero was just the right amount to be a bit awkward but still remain cute. Claudio is impulsive yet sensitive while having strong feelings towards Hero. Hero is shy and not as emotional as Claudio. Beatrice and Benedict are as comfortable as they can be as neither person is at all afraid to speak their minds except for how they truly feel for each other. Benedict is cocky enough to where the audience is cheering him on and Beatrice is charming enough to keep the audience on her side also. The way this play portrays the life of lovers seem so realistic even compared to the present time although the dancing at the end was like a fairy tale. It showed the ups and downs of life; how everything could so easily go from being perfect to being bad and from bad to good again. Eventually the play got to a point where it seemed like the comedy just seized because it was not appropriate at times and it would become so serious that it almost became too serious for a play to become because it was filled with so much humor just a short while ago. Such as when Claudio and Hero were getting married, a lot of jokes were being thrown around before and during until Claudio goes mad about his suspicions.

                The way that the stage and the space was organized felt like it was intended that the standing audience would be rewarded with a better front seat view of the play whereas all the seated audiences were seated again the walls. Having to look up at the actors made it feel like I was connecting with them better such as what they were say and what they were feeling.

                There was almost never a dull moment as I was entertained the whole time. Although the ending was predictable, the plot was able to pull me in enough that I was second guessing myself at times as to whether or not the ending was still predictable or not. It was going back and forth for a while between predictable and unpredictable by eventually it was got old and it was obvious as to how the play would end. Overall this is a play that I would want to watch again. 

Kenny Lee