Much Ado About Nothing

Last Saturday we went to Philly to see the Lantern Theater Company's presentation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, my favorite Shakespeare comedy and perhaps even play. It was in a small black box with a thrust seating arrangement. The set consisted of many brilliant blue wooden trellises wrapped with silk flowers, a semicircle of steps far upstage, which had a further high platform on top of that. Most of the cast did double-duty, the most interesting pairing being between the two brothers Don Pedro and Don John. Perhaps the most interesting part of the production for me was that the arbor, in which Benedick hides as he overhears the other men discussing Beatrice's love for him, was the seat right next to mine! So, Benedick delivered some of his lines not to himself but to me and to the people in front of and behind him. I'd have to say that Dogberry's watch was the absolute best part. The poor fellows get pushed around by him enough as it is, but in this production they were played by inanimate objects! A stuffed rabbit went everywhere with him, and he got offended if the others did not acknowledge the rabbit as a person. The other members of the watch were a rake with a glove tied to the top, and a lantern which got its handle moved when it spoke. Dogberry did all the voices.