Much Ado About Something: Locally Staged Play Honors Shakespeare

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- This is much ado about something: The Riverland Community College theater department this weekend will stage one of William Shakespeare’s best-known comedies in commemorating the 400th anniversary of the his death.

The troupe will stage a production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” In an Austin Monitor piece, the play is described as the original battle of the sexes with the arrogantly confirmed bachelor Benedick meeting his match with Beatrice, both his object of affection and linguistic sparring partner.

But this production will have a twist on an old classic.

“We set it in a contemporary modern day,” director Susan Hansen told the Monitor. “So we have pop music; we have cell phones; we have iPads.”

The play’s two protagonists hide their mutual infatuation with witty jibes, while in the midst of their sparring love blossoms. The young lovers Hero and Claudia decide to marry, only to meet their foil in the form of the wicked Don John who attempts to sabotage the union with false accusations and innuendo.

Those same themes -- as so many that the Bard so masterfully covered -- resonate to this day.

“At the heart of it is a romantic comedy,” Hansen explained. “It’s a love story. It’s about love; it’s about strength.”

The modern twists to this version also aid to make the play more accessible to a contemporary audience, the director said. Aside from the Shakespearean parlance, the play’s large cast -- eight women and 10 men -- can seem daunting to some.

But there’s nothing with which to be intimidated. For as Shakespeare himself once wrote, all the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

“It’s nothing to be afraid of,” Hansen said. “It’s easy to follow. It’s very witty, very funny.”

Those who love Shakespeare might think about going, as the cast only stages one of his productions every four years, the Monitor notes.

Who needs television? This is the original reality show.

The play is scheduled Feb. 24-27 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 28 for one show only at 2 p.m. Tickets to the show at Riverland’s East Austin campus (2200 Riverland Drive) are $13. Given some mature content -- even by today’s standards where everything goes -- the play is suggested for audiences 12 years old and up.

The short and the long of it is that this sounds like a rollicking time. And don’t worry that it might be Greek to you, for this is a dish fit for the gods.