One of the Bard\u2019s most entertaining comedies, the story revolves around two couples, one young and na\u00efve, for whom love is just one romantic whisper away, and one mature and skeptical of what love can bring into their lives. Jennifer Tong and Angus Yam play the young Hero and Claudio while Jennifer Lines and Sheldon Elter, the more experienced Beatrice and Benedick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The action starts off with a trio of soldiers, Don Pedro (Matthew Ip Shaw), Benedick and Claudio, who, upon returning from battle, stop to rest at the home of Lord Leonato (David Marr), Hero\u2019s father and the governor of Messina. There is instant chemistry between Claudio and Hero, but, while it initially appears that the younger couple will be the main protagonists, it becomes apparent that the play is really about the older two. Lines, with her mass of red hair, comes across as a fiery feminist and is sublime in her role as she exchanges witty bons mots with Elter\u2019s Benedick, a confirmed bachelor. They both mock love and he makes it very clear that marriage is not on his agenda. However, they both \u201cdoth protest too much\u201d and it really comes down to \u201cwill they or won\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n The journey to their final epiphany is a furious romp through a masked ball (with an erotic pas de deux), mistaken identities, athletic eavesdropping, false allegations of infidelity and a faked death. The language is peppered with double entendres.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Don Pedro attempts to play cupid (\u201csome cupids kill with arrows some with traps\u201d) for both couples but is hindered by his dastardly half-brother Don John (deliciously played by Karthik Kadam), who tries to sabotage the Hero\/Claudio nuptials. Cue a motley crew of the local watch, helmed by Bard veteran Scott Bellis as the inept Constable Dogberry, who are tasked with bringing Don John and his co-conspirators, Borachio (Tanner Zerr) and Conrad (Kristi Hansen), to justice. Steffanie Davis, as one of the watch team, entertains with priceless facial expressions and physical antics and, along with her cohorts, injects slapstick comedy into this rom-com.<\/p>\n A prologue precedes the first act, with the inclusion of text written by Erin Shields that is meant to provide a counterpoint to 400-year-old misogyny, including with respect to a woman\u2019s supposed holy grail \u2013 the snaring of a husband. Lines challenges the audience with her passionate monologue while Tong mimes the actions from the balcony. As Shields notes in the program, \u201cthis additional text both gives an opportunity for a limited character to reach her heroic potential and provides a framework for this incredibly successful comedy to reach contemporary audiences in an even deeper way today.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the gorgeous set, the show boasts fabulous costumes by designer Mara Gottler \u2013 leather doublets and earth-toned breeches for the men, corset frocks for the women, including frothy gowns and veils for the wedding scene. Jewish community member Mishelle Cuttler provides the sound design.<\/p>\n The production is fun \u2013 and it makes a powerful statement. But I have a problem with the script and the suggestion that virginal Hero might risk her marriage to Claudio by having a pre-wedding night tryst with someone else, and with Claudio\u2019s readiness to believe the gossip, leading him to abandon her at the altar. Her subsequent fainting \u201cdeath\u201d and ultimate resurrection, leading to their reunion, does not account for the wrong that was so easily done to her. Even her final monologue, describing her pain and path to reconciliation, does not ease the blow.<\/p>\n
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