‘Much Ado About Nothing’: Theater Review

In a fussy bit of business employed multiple times in the Shakespeare in the Park summer staging of Much Ado About Nothing, a garden trellis wall flanking designer John Lee Beatty’s gorgeous 19th century Sicilian villa slides away as if by magic, with music providing the force that muscle cannot. This is perplexing given that unlike, say, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this play’s turmoil of the heart is the result purely of foolish human behavior, and not of some mysterious enchantment. However, magic is essentially missing from the chemistry of Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater as Beatrice and Benedick, the verbal sparring partners whose “skirmish of wit” should ignite the romantic comedy. Which is not to say that having mismatched characterizations in the central reluctant romance completely dampens one of Shakespeare’s most enjoyable works. In fact, during a drizzly first press performance that had to be paused at one point near the conclusion when the rain grew too heavy, the wetter the lead actors became the more they appeared to loosen up and enjoy one another’s company.