Review: It's really something when a theatre troupe can pull off Much Ado About Nothing

Calgary Herald

19-06-2025

Article content
There is much to recommend in The Shakespeare Company and Full Circle Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Article content
It's one of Shakespeare's more problematic plays. It's a comedy, but at its heart, it's about a group of men discrediting an innocent young girl. It's Shakespeare's comic version of his tragedy Othello.
Article content
A group of soldiers returning from battle stops to rest at the home of the wealthy lord Leonato. The young soldier Claudio is instantly smitten with Leonato's daughter Hero, and she with him, a device straight out of Romeo & Juliet. Leonato's niece Beatrice is a hater of men, most specifically of the vain soldier Benedick, mirroring Katrina and Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew. Beatrice and Benedick's friends conspire to trick them into becoming lovers, but the other conspiracy is to convince Claudio that Hero is not chaste.
Article content
Article content
Any production of Much Ado rises or falls on the chemistry between the actors who play Beatrice and Benedick. Shakespeare has written some of his finest banter for these characters, and Megan Baldrey and CJ Gordon attack it with relish.
Article content
Baldrey's Beatrice is so voluptuous it's a wonder she isn't fending off suitors, but she does have a viper's tongue, which she turns on Benedick the moment he arrives at the villa. She teases him mercilessly, occasionally winking at the audience to let us know the disdain she holds for him.
Article content
It's up to Hero, and her lady-in-waiting, Margaret, to drop hints that Benedick is really in love with Beatrice but sworn to pretend otherwise. Baldrey's initial disbelief is hilarious, as is her gradual realization that she does like him.
Article content
Article content
Claudio, the army commander and Leonato are the ones who have to convince Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him. They know that this will feed Benedick's ego. The fun is watching Gordon processing this revelation, and questioning his old philosophy that he is a bachelor for life.
Article content
Article content
Director John Knight turns the scenes in which Beatrice and Benedick overhear the conversations of the conspirators into pure slapstick. He has Baldrey and Gordon crawling about on the floor and hiding behind the small set pieces on the stage. It's the antithesis of the witty verbal matches Baldrey and Gordon had earlier on, but both actors are up to these demands as well.
Article content
Joel David Taylor runs a gamut of emotions for Claudio. First, he is smitten with Hero, all eager-eyed and puppy-like. When he thinks that Don Pedro is wooing Hero, Taylor becomes petulant and sullen, but turns into the proud peacock when Hero announces she will gladly marry him. Taylor is most convincing when he turns his anger on Hero at their planned wedding, accusing her of being wanton. His anger is palpable.
Article content
It's always a challenge for modern actors to play Shakespeare's innocents. Hero is probably 15 years old. Caitlyn O'Connor's reaction to being maligned is not that of a child but a woman, and that's not Hero. Her admonishment of Claudio when he discovers the truth is better.