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Claudio, returned from the wars, falls in love with Hero (who happens to be heiress to a fortune) and proposes marriage. Benedick is a cad, but finds himself falling for the saucy Beatrice anyway. Don John is a troublemaker and tries to screw everything up for his own benefit. In the end, it’s Much Ado About Nothing. The production I saw last night at the American Shakespeare Center was quite good, the performances crisp, the staging intelligent and making full use of the universal lighting and thrust stage.
The current touring company season comes to a close next week (which is why I’ve crammed three visits to the theater in the last six days), after which the resident troupe returns for the summer/fall repertoire: As You Like It, The Tempest, Macbeth, and Othello. Many of the company members were in the audience last night for Much Ado . . .
