Live, soft jazz sparkles as the final troops of World War II in the Pacific return to Washington D.C., the setting of the theater department’s production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The show opens with the return of Don Pedro and his companions Benedick and Claudio from the Pacific theater. Dressed in khaki uniforms, the entourage is welcomed with patriotic celebrations to the home of Senator Leonato, played by sophomore Micah Meadowcroft. Inquiries into potential lovers’ availability are peppered with Shakespeare’s quick wit, updated slightly to make sense to a modern audience.
Shakespeare’s comedy follows the story of two couples: Hero and Claudio, who, after becoming engaged, trick Beatrice and Benedick into falling for each other. The plot involves malicious trickery, wedding day tragedy, and malapropos watchmen who catch the culprit.
This production of the bard’s timeless romantic comedy takes a fresh angle and demonstrates the versatility of the play’s language. Other than updating some comedic lines, only a few words were changed to be consistent with the setting. Money is referred to as “dollars” instead of “ducats,” and the ruler of the city is mentioned as “the president” instead of “the prince.”
The rendition of the play also involves gender changes of several characters, which helps the flow of the drama and gives a nod to the play’s new setting. Because so many men had been away at war in 1945. Director David Griffiths saw a good opportunity to make certain characters female to reflect the changed social norms.
“Dave did a really good job making it work, rather than just dropping a bunch of female actors into male roles and saying ‘play this as guys’ –– there are a lot of things that work better this way,” senior Sam Stoneburner said. “Having a woman sing ‘Sigh no more’ makes so much more sense. What man will warn women about men being untrustworthy?”
Sophomore Catherine Coffey, who plays the villainess Countess Joanna, was excited to hear that the Don John character would be female and was drawn to the role immediately.
“It’s a unique opportunity, and of course, I wanted to grab it while I could because when else am I going to get to play this part?” she said. “This is the first time I’ve played a villainess in five years. So it’s nice to be evil again. She’s just so sassy and so mean.”
Foundation for the conflict between Don Pedro and Joanna is explained by the tensions between democratic and communist influences in the Philippines post World War II.
“My thought was there was a lot of activity going on in the Philippines during the war and right after the war with guerrilla groups,” Griffiths said. “We did some research, and there were actually a number of women in some of these communist guerrilla groups, so we took this idea that Don Pedro was a democratic person looking to lead the newly freed Philippines, and Joanna his sister is part of that communist group, and she wants to rule the country too.”
Sophomore Matt Sauer, who plays Don Pedro, juxtaposes the seriousness of the conflict with Joanna with the carefree revelry of the end of the war.
“I love that Don Pedro is formal –– he’s a general –– but he’s a complete and utter jokster,” Sauer said. “It’s so much fun to play because he’s serious; he’s in charge of an army. But he’s got this very, very juvenile side that is a blast to play around with.”
The show features cameo performances by the student jazz quartet Rob Roy, which sets the tone for scenes throughout the production. While incorporating music into a play is not unusual, having a jazz band live and on stage provides a level of authenticity not usually possible. Members of Rob Roy blend with the actors and tune the audience attention to the era of fedoras, gloves, and pin curls.
“One of the best parts of the production is the jazz band,” sophomore cast member Jonathan Fiore said. “It has such a cool effect.”
Dogberry, the inept constable of the watch, is played by Professor of Theater George Angell. Acting opposite a professor on stage has been an odd, yet helpful experience for students who play in scenes with Dogberry during the show.
“I’m actually in one of his classes right now –– and I put him down on stage, which is really weird,” sophomore Allie Cuccinelli said. “It’s been really enjoyable to work off of him because he knows just so well what he’s doing.”
The cast put on an additional performance at 10 a.m. on Feb. 18 for approximately 300 area high school students. The matinee performance was arranged by Professor of Theatre James Brandon at the request of several schools, and students performing in the play were excused from academic classes in order to participate. The department usually performs a student matinee once a year.
“If we were doing Shakespeare in its original time period, there would be a lot more devotion to the formalities of the theater,” said Sauer. “But we’ve got some jazz music –– it’s easy to keep things nice and easy and swingin.’”
