Review on "Much Ado About Nothing"

      Last Monday, my class and I went to see the play "Much Ado About Nothing."  I have never seen the play or leanred about it before this, so it was interetsing to see something new.  There were many elements that made up this play and made it good.  There was the acting and the plot and characters and then the more "behind the scenes" stuff like the set design/ lighting, costumes and music. 

      There were many different big characters who all had different personalities.  But they were all involved with eachother and were all connected.  Not having to do with the actual play but just in genereal, I noticed that the characters were different races because it was supposed to be placed in 1920, not in the 1500s.  The plot was interesting and twisted with secret lovers and people tricking one another and falling in love.  There were many things going on.  Each character had their own story but the characters were joined together, forming the plot.  The actual actors played their characters very well.  They were very professional and exaggerated actors.  They had power and energy.  They always stood in character and even when they weren't the center of attention but were on stage, they were still acting.  Th actors were also very emotional and very into what they were doing.

      The other stuff that didn't have to do with the actual plot but what tied the whole play together and made it "for real" were the set design/ lighting, music and costumes.  For the set desgin and lighting, I noticed that they had a moon in the backgrounbd to show time of day, they always had it dark or lighter to show time of day.  I always liked how they played around with the shadows and silhouettes, it sort of set the mood and made your eyes even be interested.  I noticed that for the set design/ props they had an alcohol cabinet and tables and when they would change or fix the props, the transitions would be fast.  To set the time period and make everything come alive, they had music.  It was jazzy and complimeted the scenes.  There were also instruments and the music showed the mood.  The characters were aware of the music and interacted with it like at the ball when they were dancing.  Now, my favorite part to talk about: costumes!  I noticed that the clothing was modern and the clothing would fit the character snd their role.  I noticed that there were a lot of dresses and masks and Hero's wedding dress was really pretty and went well with her character's personality.

      All in all, I pretty much enjoyed this play and all the details and little things that tied it together.  I loved the energy, acting, costuming and watching eveything connect and come alive.  From seeing this play (which was a great experience), it helped me to visualize better and imagine and understand things about Shakespeare in a new eye.  I would reccommend this play.