Much Was Done to Nothing

Utah Valley University’s version of Shakespeare’s Much A Do About Nothing was very interesting. Having the play set in Mexico was a very interesting approach. The guitar players helped set the mood along side the very detailed set. I think that the set was beautiful and I absolutely loved the little fountain I thought that was awesome.

The costumes were distracting. I felt like there was a good concept, but they were just distracting, I thought Don Juanna’s dress was really beautiful. I liked the red and black colors for her, but she didn’t really mesh with all the rest of the characters and I am not sure if that was done on purpose, but I thought it was out of place.

The guitarists were really hilarious. The guy was way funnier than the girl, but they made a good team. I think they were a great touch. The acting was unbalanced there were more girl characters, but the men were much stronger actors than the women. I thought the girls acted really young. At times I felt like I was watching a high school show. There was absolutely no depth to the characters other than Beatrice. The actresses playing Hero, Margaret and Ursula were all dull there was not any character development. I thought that there was not a lot of character development.

Beatrice was pretty funny. I was not sure how I felt about her at the beginning of the play, but when she came out during the scene where Hero and Ursula are discussing Benedicts feels was when I really started to connect to the character. I thought she was really funny from that point on. I loved that she was so comfortable in her own skin and just was not shy. She did a good job.

Benedict was hilarious. I think that there was a lot of character development. He was one of the actors who I think really understood Shakespeare. This knowledge allowed him to really take a new interpretation to the lines. He made the character his own and he wasn’t trying to reinvent. Claudio is the most annoying character to begin with. I thought the actor acted really young. He portrayed the character as a teenage boy, although there were a lot of characters that portrayed their characters very young. Hero was as dull as ever. The character is written without a lot to go off of, but that is why it makes it an acting challenge to make something of a character that hasn’t been given very much. I did not particularly care for Dogberry, only because the actor in the movie version is so amazingly hilarious that I can’t have another actor top his performance. The really tall guy who was a watchman played his character really well. He was in the background a lot and he was not a forgettable character at all. That is a sign of a talented actor, someone who can make an unforgettable character when the character is not a lead.

Overall I thought that the play was entertaining. I am a harsh judge when it comes to acting. I think that actors need to know all the details about their characters and I don’t think that man of these actors did a lot of character development. Chemistry was really strong from Benedict towards Beatrice. I thought it was truly believable. I would not have chosen to set this play in Mexico, but that is what is so great about Shakespeare it is timeless and it is open to interpretation. I do think that there are times where interpretation is taken too far, but in this case I think they executed their interpretation well.