The Strawdog Theatre Company is staging a new take on Shakespeare with a satire of '90s reality shows. Much Ado About Nothing: The Ides Reunion is a spoof of the era that started it all for a television audience. William Shakespeare's comedy of rumor-mongering, true love, and meddling could be the precursor of reality television. The dialogue is Real Housewives in a more interesting language and meter. The Strawdog company has invented a version set in an authentic pub with a cast having a great time.
Much Ado About Nothing: The Ides Reunion is being staged promenade style in Burke's Pub on Broadway, directed by Noah Elman, from a script adapted by Michael Dailey. The room was packed, so I wondered how they would pull it off. The actors were on live-action video as they went through the pub. A full bar at the front of the pub serves as a setting for the characters to exchange silly text messages and eavesdrop. It was the perfect spot for drinking and merriment.
The cast is funny and gets great laughs from the audience. Brett Garrett plays Benedick as a classic bro who thinks he knows women and would never settle down. There is an art to physical comedy, and Garrett does good pratfalls and double takes. Maureen Azzun makes an excellent '90s version of Beatrice. The Shakespearean zingers or disses roll off her tongue and have an extra kick of spicy attitude made for '90s reality television.
The individual interviews of the characters were classic reality television. Before I could say Real Housewives of Messina, there were Benedick, Beatrice, Hero (Lynsy Folckomer), and Claudio (Andrew Greiche) sitting in front of a plain backdrop. They confess their real feelings on video for the world to see. Shakespeare's characters may have inspired some of the drama on reality television. Director Noah Elman makes good choices in positioning the actors.
Folckomer does a charming Hero. Her character is girlish and very maiden, frolicking in the field. Greiche's Claudio is properly gullible to the mischief of Don John, played by Kamille Dawkins. Dawkins plays Don John with subtle villainy vibes. It was just the right amount of menace with some reality show troublemaking stirred in.
Adam Jay Hyde plays the social-climbing Leonato. He believes Don John's rumor-mongering about Hero's virtue or lack thereof. I would recommend that you refresh your knowledge of Much Ado About Nothing. (Its Wikipedia page gives a decent summary.) This fun but condensed version leaves out some dialogue and key actions, which is the key to reality television. It allows the viewer to fill in the plot with their conspiracy theories and prejudices.
Shakespeare can be seen as being a prescient observer of human behavior because people have the same foibles and weaknesses. The world seems to be an alternative reality show that we can't turn off. Take some time to check out Strawdog's Much Ado About Nothing: The Ides Reunion Episode. It's a fun escapist take on status and manipulation that would not seem like comedy fodder. Shakespeare is peerless in that kind of observational comedy. Check it out, and before you can say Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo, you will enjoy theater, some hearty ale and waffle fries.
Much Ado About Nothing: The Ides Reunion Episode runs through March 26 at Burke's Public House, 5401 N. Broadway. For more information, please visit https://www.strawdog.org.
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