By Kenton Erekson
Tucked away in the hills of the Provo Amphitheatre, The Grassroots Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing is a comedic and witty tale performed by a passionate ensemble who seek to present Shakespeare in an easily accessible manner. It is unclear when William Shakespeare first penned this play, but speculation places it between the years 1598 and 1599. Inspired by the Novelle Orlando Furioso, Shakespeare crafted the main story involving the marriage of Hero and Claudio. Influenced by other works such as Matteo Bandello’s La Prima Parte de Nouelle and Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier provided Shakespeare with the setting of Messina, Italy and the other romance between Beatrice and Benedick. Presented in thousands of interpretations, including a motion picture in 1993, Much Ado About Nothing continues to thrill and inspire audiences with its witty banter and valuable life lessons.
What separates a Grassroots play from a normal stage production is its simplicity. Set on a small wooden stage with a painted curtain and the actors dressed in costumes that reminisce the early years of playing dress up, there is a certain honesty in a Grassroots performance that cannot be found anywhere else. In a theatre, the orchestra sits in front with over 20 members playing carefully composed music for each scene. A Grassroots play has a small band comprised of three members playing an assortment of instruments to accompany the performance. Almost every seat places each audience member up-close with the performers, creating an atmosphere of camaraderie and genuine understanding. Being so late at night and the final feature of a triple showing, the audience was scarce and those who had previously returned home missed out on a beautiful production.
The performance begins with a messenger (Kris Miles) delivering a message that Don Pedro (Ardon Smith) is returning from a successful battle with his fellow soldiers Claudio (Brandon Bills) and Benedick (Tyler Harris). The party is invited to stay with the Governor of Messina, Leonato (Dan Anderson) and Claudio immediately becomes love stricken with Hero (Emma Robinson), Leonato’s daughter. The moment that reels you into the story is the first meeting of Benedick and Beatrice (Jessamyn Svensson). Within seconds it is clear that there is chemistry masked by their own arrogance and disdain towards marriage. Harris delivers each line with powerful charisma and bravado while Svensson’s wit shines as tiny knives piercing Benedick’s confidence. Their comfort with one another stands out in each interaction and each biting comment makes the other bend. Their playful banter continues to skirt around the realization of their own attraction towards one another.
One scene in particular to be recognized was when the friends of Benedick gossip extra loudly about Beatrice being madly in love with him, knowing full well that Benedick is eavesdropping on their conversation. Benedick scurries behind barrels and curtains still in full sight of the audience pretending to be hiding from his friends. Claudio and Don Pedro’s exaggerated and deliberate lines meant to bait Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice brought the greatest reaction and participation from the audience. This golden comedic scene is also juxtaposed with Beatrice’s friends as they plant the deliberate seeds of love very loudly in Beatrice as she pretends to not hear their gossiping conversation. You are immediately sucked into the love scheme crafted by these individuals, and this plot device is the driving force that keeps you waiting patiently for the truth to be revealed.
Grassroots embraces modernity in their interpretation of Shakespeare as characters often make asides to themselves in Modern English easily understood by the common audience member. During the masquerade scene, Beatrice could be seen doing the Fortnite dance and other dance moves not known when the play was written. This connects audience members to the cast as a certain feeling of levity breaks up any drama or tension.
The most notable comedic moments came from the scheming crew of Don John (Soren Budge) as during one of their planning sessions Conrade (Jarrith McCoy) tries his best to pass out food with two hooks for hands, but continues to drop each piece on the floor. The watchman (Nick Grossaint) also brings humor as he bumbles about and convinces himself that sleeping on the job has been approved by Dogberry, their commanding officer (Toria Truax). Grossaint’s British accent helped bring originality and variety to a play set in Italy dominated by American accents.
At times, the music felt underutilized. Gary Argyle on Guitar and Scott Robinson on the drums play a continuous stream of background music throughout the play. While, this enhances certain scenes which allows audience members to focus on the dialogue exchanges rather than the music, I would have liked for the music to play a bigger part in the climatic scenes such as the wedding and the big reveal at the end.
In a world plagued by gossip and miscommunication, Grassroots Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing reminds us of the importance of honesty and recognizing our feelings as we follow Benedick and Beatrice’s love story from the fights to the feels. Honesty with ourselves and honesty with others is what creates happiness, security, and trust.
You will never see a cast more vivacious and more enthusiastic than Grassroots Shakespeare as their love for their craft bleeds into every line and every gesture. Do yourself a favor and experience this unique company.
Play is suitable for children and up though it’s pretty late. It has some mild language.
Grassroots Shakespeare presents Much Ado About Nothingby William Shakespeare
The Castle Amphitheatre, 1300 E Center Street; Provo, Utah 84606
Jul 12-Jul 13, 2019 10:00 PM
Tickets: $15
Contact: 707-722-7529
The Grassroots Shakespeare Company Facebook Page
The Grassroots Shakespeare Company
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