Antics Galore: Kentucky Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado, directed by Matt Wallace, makes my fourth time attending Kentucky Shakespeare's free outdoor performances in Louisville, and it did not disappoint. I loved it so much that I saw it three times over opening weekend!

The whole team puts on a seamless comedic romp: excellently timed, lively momentum-there isn't a dull moment even for the ensemble characters. Everyone is fully invested, taking actions that may seem comedic to us, but feel absolutely earnest and genuine to them.

This is the first Benedick/Beatrice couple I've seen where I fully believed the two characters had prior history. Their turn at the end felt like a genuine choice they made on their own, rather than being forced or tricked into their marriage.

Justin Jackson (Benedick) plays his back and forths so precisely, pivoting on dime after hilarious dime between a marriage-mocking soldier and a bashful, giddy lover without ever losing the audience.

Hallie Dizdarevic plays a wonderful Beatrice, full of wit AND heart. I've seen several versions of Much Ado, but this time, I saw a Beatrice who felt genuinely torn between wanting her independence as an unmarried woman and the bittersweetness of watching everyone around her pair off in seeming happy couples. Dizdarevic's "Oh God that I were a man" speech is captivating, as she sweeps us all up in the revolution she's ready to start.

Kate Drury and Logan Lee Edwards play the adorable Hero and Claudio respectively. As they meet and sing a gorgeous duet, you won't be able to keep from smiling.

The villain trio will have you on the edge of your seat. Don John (Tai Rosenblatt) is deliciously villainous, scheming with Conrade (Neill Robertson) and Borachio (Crystian Wiltshire) on how to get revenge on Claudio by ruining his wedding to Hero. Watch out for them in the background, gathering intelligence and planting rumors. And Conrade's outburst to Dogberry is nothing short of hilarious.

Braden McCampbell rules the stage as the Prince, Don Pedro, who recruits Leonato (Tom Luce), Claudio and Hero to help him trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love with each other.

The Cupid’s trap scenes are meticulously staged and hilariously performed, with standout comedy bits from each group. Hero recruits her spunky maids Margaret (Mollie Murk) and Ursula (Sasha Cifuentes) to help trap Beatrice, unaware that Margaret is unwittingly helping Borachio ruin her own marriage.

And then the tone shift: hero and Claudio's ruined wedding. The comedy teeters on the edge of turning into a tragedy, first with the accusation of Hero's "infidelity" and then with the Benedict’s decision to challenge Claudio. Tom Luce plays the kindest Leonato I've seen, with his outburst at Hero's supposed unfaithfulness cooling to a reconciliation by the end of the scene.

Thank goodness for Dogberry (Gregory Maupin), Verges (Abigail Maupin) and the watch (Jon Huffman, Mary Baunjoko, Mylon Joseph). Their antics bring a welcome break from the comedy teetering on tragedy, complete with plenty of narrowly dodged halberds. If only these...learned watchmen can overcome their malapropisms to tell Leonato's family that Hero's been falsely accused, then all may be well after all.

Antonia (Mary Baunjoko) steals the stage with her "Content yourself" speech, challenging the Prince and Claudio to a reckoning over Hero's "death." Claudio’s repentant song to Hero’s tomb is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Thankfully, our intrepid watch comes through and the truth is revealed. Borachio’s genuine care for Margaret shines as he protects her from being implicated in his plot with Don John. All is well, and much ado concludes with a dance.

If you're in the Louisville area this summer, you won't want to miss this standout comedy. Well worth a watch (or three)!