Much Ado About Nothing

So I saw a bunch of plays in my quest to see all of Shakespeare, before I started the blog, so I'll back track and review them.

On August 28, 2009 I saw Much Ado About Nothing at Olney Theatre. This was another free performance (a preview). It was supposed to be outside, but Hurricane Daniel pushed it inside, I assume this space was once a barn.

The show was standard good. Nothing to write home about.

Much Ado is about the misunderstanding and eves droppings that occur around two sets of lovers: Claudio/Hero, Benedict/Beatrice; with a minor plot involving Jon the Bastard (the Prince's brother); and random guards-men.

Much Ado in general, although a good plot, lacks a certain something that I like about Shakespearean comedies (It has all the grace and charm of Midsummer but lacks fairies). I'm not sure what it's missing, but hopefully by the time I've seen all of Shakespeare, I'll have a more defined view of it.

As for the performance itself, like I said, it was generally good, with no one thing standing out as great/amazing. There was a surprise of double casting the Prince and the Bastard. It took a few moments before I realized he wasn't the same person (and I'm highly familiar with the play). But after it was understood, the transitions between characters were clear.

All-in-all I'm happy this was a free event.