Much Ado about Shakespeare

The season of Shakespeare has begun! July and August in Cambridge are famous for the Shakespeare Festival, in which small casts produce six or so different Shakespeare plays in the gardens of the various colleges. Tonight, at least half of our group packed a picnic and headed to the Fellow's Garden of St. John's College (otherwise not open to visitors) to see "Much Ado About Nothing," which happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play of all time.

It was brilliant.

Many of Shakespeare's comedies take part largely in outdoorsy, somewhat pastoral or fantastical settings, so placing "Much Ado" in a garden adds a delightful element to the production. My worst fears were allayed when Benedick proved witty, masculine, and in every way as he ought to be. The theater critics- from whom I heard so much on the subject during my Shakespeare class this past semester- would have been pleased to know that the famous "kill Claudio" line evoked "the" laugh from the audience, thus diffusing the dramatic tension of watching a comedy in which an innocent and beloved female character has been defamed and the heroine has just asked the hero to murder his best friend.

It only rained twice during the production- it requires torrents to push these actors off their grassy stage- and our group was generally so well pleased that we intend to attend at least one or two more performances, perhaps "The Merchant of Venice" or "The Merry Wives of Windsor," as comedies are best set off by gardens and summertime.