Much Ado About Nothing Review (Crescent)

         “Man is a giddy thing,” says Benedick in Shakespeare’s 'Much Ado About Nothing.' George Fox University’s production of the play, which ran for two weekends in October, delivers this message in delightful fashion.

The classic comedy tells the story of two concurrent romances. Claudio (played by Luke Peters) and Hero (Gabrielle Brinkman) are engaged to be married until a villainous plot drives them apart. Meanwhile, frenemies Beatrice (Lydia Crist) and Benedick (Johnathan Billington) are both against love and marriage, but are brought together romantically through their friends’ trickery. 

Though there were standout performances, the collective effort to put together this show may be more commendable than any individual’s role in it. Johnathan Billington, who plays Benedick, said that “the school has spread us thin” by cutting the production budget and the theater program as a whole.

“We are always working long hours when we get close to the show,” Billington said, “but this time was even more challenging than usual. Part of that is definitely because of the sheer scope of this play, the large cast, and the incredibly impressive, complex, beautiful, intricate designs by all of our designers. But another major issue was that we simply didn't have enough people.”

None of that trouble was apparent to the audience. From the beautiful set and costumes to the practiced ease with which the actors made their way through Shakespeare’s script, everything came together for a delightful two and a half hours that had the audience laughing loud and often.

Billington’s and Crist’s performances in the leading roles shone among the rest. Some of the scenes that drew the most laughter involved their characters hiding on-set in increasingly ridiculous fashion as other characters—very aware of their presence—make each believe that their rival is deeply in love with them. The two also delivered their characters’ famous repartee—one of the play’s defining aspects—with wonderful timing. 

Billington said of that scene, Act II, Scene III, “I suggested to Rhett that I climb upside down. [...] I knew he was going to say no, so I said it in the tone of a joke. But instead, he paused, looked at where I was suggesting it, and essentially said,  “Let's try it.” That moment, in which Billington hung from the ceiling, drew one of the biggest laughs of the night.

Another noteworthy performance was Shannon Keehn, as the inept constable Dogberry. The humor of the character lies largely in mistaken words, which Keehn delivered with perfect bumbling sincerity.

Some characters in this play are written as male, yet performed by women in this production due to the gender composition of the cast. Leonato and the villainous prince Don John, for example, were rewritten as female characters, becoming “Leonata” and “the Princess.” 

This led to a few confusing moments, such as when a female character was referred to as “sir.” For the most part, however, the slight changes to the script took place seamlessly.

Danny Walker, playing the prince Don Pedro, also deserves mention. Though the character receives less stage time than Benedick or Beatrice and less focus than Dogberry, his convincingly regal performance commanded attention.

The play was directed by Rhett Luedtke and featured Johnathan Billington, Lydia Crist, Gabrielle Brinkman, Danny Walker, Alexa Burris, Luke Peters, Emilia Corazza, Shannon Keehn, Emma Johnson, Maddie Teel, Thomas Millage, Elizabeth Herbert, Jenny Fournier, and El Maciel.

This is the first of three plays that the George Fox University theater program will put on this academic year. The subsequent shows will be the musical “Godspell” starting on January 27, then Rohina Malik’s “The Hijabis” beginning March 31.