Stage review
'Much Ado' a banquet, feast and fitting finale
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama Critic
This production at the University of Hawai'i Kennedy Theatre is billed as the last to be directed there by Terence Knapp.
So it's fitting that the last exemplifies the best of what has characterized Knapp's style during his 31 years on the faculty. It's filled with tangible energy, purposeful movement, bright color, life brimming over the edges, a freshly-scrubbed Saturday night and a pocket ripe with spending money.
'Much Ado About Nothing'
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Where: Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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When: Tomorrow-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m.
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Tickets: $12, general admission; $9, seniors, military, UH faculty and staff; $4, UH students
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Information: 956-7655
The youthful student cast has caught the right level of production fever. Best of all, most of them deliver intelligible Elizabethan dialogue, a prerequisite for a painless Shakespearian evening.
Nevertheless, it's necessary to note that "Much Ado About Nothing" is not among the playwright's best. It plays like a work dashed off between more significant projects and touches on characters and situations that are more strongly developed elsewhere.
"Much Ado" stirs up a swirl of activity without a strong central focus. But the play does offer a pair of vital characters, Beatrice and Benedick, whose scenes together play like chocolate treats in a box of granola.
The couple's sparring is established before we enter the action of the play, and it's commonly accepted among the other characters that they will become lovers. The fun is watching them come to the same realization.
Jennifer Robideau and Matthew Malliski also effectively articulate the dialogue with a workable sense of character — Robideau spontaneous and coltish, Malliski confident and cocky.
Scot Davis also does well as Claudio, the gullible young lord who gives in to the gossip about his intended bride. Davis is particularly strong as he denounces her at the marriage altar in a neatly shaped monologue of loud and high emotion. It's moments like these when Knapp's directorial finesse shows through, modeling the delivery to successfully transition a young performer to the challenge of a demanding moment.
All this plays out against a simple circular setting designed by Joseph Dodd and a fluid lighting design by Kelly Berry that exploits the effect of colored gels against swags of plain muslin. Sandra Finney's costumes are an extravagant array of ethnic Sicilian boots and laces, underscored by an accordionist (Blake Kushi) who appropriates melodies from Naples to Hollywood.
It's a banquet and a feast. Aloha, Mr. Knapp. We will remember you.
