Not 'Much' to performance

Watching Monroe County Civic Theater's performance of William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" is like watching a high school play; the performance is riddled with faults, but the energy of the players and the audience carries the play through. Despite light rain and cold weather, at least 20 people showed up for the premiere at the Third Street Park Stage for the MCCT's 75th production of Shakespeare in the Park Friday night. \n"Much Ado About Nothing" presents the story of two couples and their journey toward love. Beatrice and Benedick are cynics, scoffing at the notion of love, until their friends concoct a plan to bring them together. Meanwhile, Benedick's friend, Claudio, falls in love with Beatrice's cousin, the beautiful Hero, but their love is endangered by the villainous Don John and his cronies who attempt to break the couple apart through slander and deception. It is only through the help of the bumbling Constable Dogberry and his night watchmen that the plot is brought to light. It all ends with the two couples in each others' arms. \nMaria Eagleton's direction of this piece was uninspired to say the least. In the majority of the scenes characters would stand in a line and would only come alive when it was time for them to speak. \nEagleton's direction of the actors was also, at times, perplexing. Hero, played by Karmyn Guthrie, came off as a bimbo with her constant irritating swooning and high-pitched voice. Her counterpart, Claudio, played by John DeBoer, was the exact opposite -- an almost total lack of reaction and a wooden delivery of speech. Then there was Chad Eagleton's preposterous portrayal of Don John as a highly nasal and ranting villain. The conniving and chilling character of Don John ended up being an unsuccessful comedic joke for the audience.\nIn spite of all this, there were a few who shone bright enough to somewhat redeem this performance. Bobby Hackett's Benedick brought a youthful energy to this performance. This, combined with the wonderful performance of Stephanie Dodge as Beatrice, resulted in theater magic. From the moment when they crossed their wits in their first meeting to the time when they reluctantly fell into each others arms, there was a definite chemistry between these two performers. There were also Ryan Markle's hilarious Dogberry and his equally comedic members of the watch. They injected a much needed dose of classic comedy into this play. \nWhat truly hurt this piece more than anything though was not the directing or the acting but the set design and changes. The elegance of a simple set was sacrificed for cluttered props and a poorly manufactured backdrop. Added to this, stagehands took several minutes changing the sets between scenes. This made the performance clunky and amateurish more than anything else. \nSure the MCCT is a not-for-profit organization and one can't expect them to provide glorious sets for their productions, but instead of trying to make much ado out of nothing, they should have worked with what they had. \nWhen all is said and done, one must keep in mind that the MCCT productions are free and their efforts to further community theater are always appreciated. It was the energy of the players that really carried the play through its 2 hours and 40 minutes. Despite all its faults, "Much Ado About Nothing" does not fail to amuse.\n"Much Ado About Nothing" is presented by Monroe County Civic Theater and Bloomington Parks and Recreation. The play is performed at 8 p.m. on June 13 and 14 at the Third Street Park Stage.