Dan DaranciangIn the 1990s, comedian Jerry Seinfeld popularized the concept of creating an entire show about nothing. Mr. Seinfeld, however, did not give credit to the true creator of this concept, the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. This weekend, though, the Performing Arts Department will pay homage to the creator of this something-out-of-nothing genre with their spring mainstage production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”
Unlike Seinfeld’s popular sitcom, Shakespeare’s creation does not revolve around four neurotic friends meeting in a New York coffee shop. Instead, it tells the story of Claudio, a young aristocrat who serves in the army of Don Pedro, and his potential relationship with the innocent and beautiful Hero (who Don Pedro has volunteered to woo on the young soldier’s behalf). The plot is complicated when Don John, Don Pedro’s half-brother, threatens to ruin the young couple’s possible relationship by spreading rumors of Hero’s infidelity. The play’s other central focus is found in another blossoming romance that develops between Beatrice, Hero’s cousin, and Benedick, another soldier in Don Pedro’s army. Beatrice, a strong-willed and sharp-witted woman has vowed to never marry, but struggles with these decisions after meeting the also clever Benedick.
According to director and PAD chair Henry Schvey, who first directed the play 25 years ago, despite its title, this Shakespearean comedy is about much more than its title-claim of “nothing.” Schvey believes instead that the play, “deals with a woman’s place in a man’s society” and that it still speaks to both men and women dealing with today’s ever-changing social climate.
“It’s all about how we use masks in our lives. There is a literal mask ball, but there are also the masks that Beatrice and Benedict wear when they deny their love,” Schvey explained. “There is a real psychological complexity. People can be both intimately connected and equal and friends, so in that sense, it really is a modern look at love.”
Schvey’s updated version of this Shakespearean classic is set in Italy in the 1920s as a means of conveying the universality of these concepts. “I wanted to stay fresh with it, and I chose the 1920s because it is a time after a war and a time in which women’s roles were still circumscribed,” Schvey explained. “I also like the idea of Italy being a light. It creates a comic circle, from the lightness of Italy, into the complications of the play when Hero is denied.which comes back into the light at the end.”
In the end, Schvey says that the play can best be summarized by its sexual conflict and “the merry war” between the sexes. Schvey commented, “It’s something we can all relate to and something we can all laugh at.”
“Much Ado about Nothing” will be performed on February 24 and 25 and March 3 and 4 at 8 pm, and Sunday February 26 and March 5 at 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Edison Theatre Box Office.