Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare. Villanova Players. Directed by Roslyn Johnson. Yeronga State High School, Annerley. November 3-19, 2017

When you go out for Italian but the fusion of a spicy Tex-Mex grabs your senses and pulls you in for a scandalous night of frivolity and belly laughs, you know you’ve just seen Much Ado About Nothing by the Villanova Players.

Roslyn Johnson would have loved to meet Shakespeare. She’s in love with him (that much is clear from her program notes), and as a director, she could have shown him how she accommodated his indomitable characters of Dogberry, Benedick, Beautrice, and Don John without letting their egos run away with the show, well almost.

 

Of course, egos, reputations and revenges are central themes of Much Ado About Nothing, which revolves around two love stories. The angst arises when the fair maiden Hero (Hannah Martin) has her reputation sullied on her wedding day by the greasy villain Don John (Michael McNish). Her cousin Beautrice (Louella Baldwin) intervenes. Hero’s would-be husband Claudio (Travis Holmes) is challenged by a newly smitten Benedick (Jason Nash) and it is left to sheriff Dogberry (Matthew Hobbs) to settle the matter.

Johnson has set Much Ado About Nothing on a ranch near the border of Texas and Mexico with overtones of spaghetti westerns, Zorro and F Troop evident throughout.

The mix of American and Mexican accents is carried comfortably by the cast. Vocal projection is more of a mixed bag with some actors losing their lines while others are heard crystal clear.

There are stand-out performances in this production and characters that demand nothing less. Most notable are Jason Nash and Louella Baldwin who make a perfect match as the feisty lovers in denial. Matthew Hobbs takes his Shakespearean debut to hilarious heights as Dogberry, an overexposed Scottish Sheriff with a fetish for proper dictation.

Hannah Martin and Travis Jones play their lovestruck characters with sensitivity, as does Tom Coyle as Don Pedro, while matriarch, Leonata, is moulded into a Mexican Mama with a formidable performance by Liz Morris, who sees through the antics of Michael McNish’s devilish Don John.

It was Kristina Nosova in support roles, however, whose stage presence grew more prominent as the production went on. She was good at slapstick but never overacted and had a world of character in every gesture.

This is a company where you can see mentoring in action and for community theatre there is no greater sign of its strength or vision for the future.

The cast is a mix of students, teachers, professional musicians, and singers. Some have never performed Shakespeare before, others have been embroiled in the Bard’s work for most of the year.

Villanova’s end of year production is a great event and don’t forget your $2 coin for the famous interval nibbles and drinks.

Debra Bela

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