THEATER REVIEW : Riding Herd on ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in Old West

Summer in San Diego means Shakespeare, and the season is off to a running start with a sparkling “Much Ado About Nothing,” this one recast three months after the end of the Civil War in New Mexico Territory garb at the Lamb’s Players Theatre.

Part of the greatness of this comedy lies in how tantalizingly close it veers to the edge of tragedy. The same type of rumor that delays the nuptials of Hero and Claudio, kills the innocent Desdemona in “Othello.” The trick devised by Antonio in “Much Ado,” in which Hero feigns death so as to elicit penitence from those who wronged her, is the same one Friar Lawrence tried in “Romeo and Juliet.” Except unlike the rash Romeo, who kills himself out of grief for his beloved’s “death,” the ever-practical Claudio does his penance by obeying the command of Hero’s father to wed another of his choosing--who turns about to be Hero in disguise.

A slip of the pen, a shadow across the eye of God, and “Much Ado About Nothing” could have been about something quite somber instead.

The Southwest setting of the play does not have pretensions to the slightest thematic significance. Rather, like pouring fine wine into tumblers rather than crystal, the change from stiff brocades to familiar frontier fabrics (by Veronica Murphy Smith) seems to relax the 14-person cast--a laudable aim in itself. The easy rhythms of the frontier and the twang of the accents-- with a bit of Spanish thrown in--are right in step with Shakespeare’s jaunty, earthy side.

Director Sally Smythe keeps the action flowing seamlessly in the round with the limitations of a single set, a nicely functional Spanish hacienda by Christian Turner. The design allows plenty of sneaking around by characters anxious to spy and doomed to be spied on. And the lighting, by Mike Buckley, subtly alters the mood from scene to scene in a way that the static props cannot.

There are some odd acting choices here. Claudio seems curiously cheerful at his wedding to an unknown woman, the day after he is told that he was responsible for the death of Hero, the one he loved.

For a moment, it makes you wish that instead of Hero revealing herself and throwing herself into his arms, she would give the cad a smack in the face.

But for the most part, the chemistry between Claudio and Hero (played by real-life husband and wife Lance and Mary Kidd) works as does that between the feisty Beatrice and Benedick (Deborah Gilmour Smyth and Robert Smyth, also real-life partners).

The lovers are handsomely supported by a fine cast that includes Luther Hanson, pleasantly pumped up with noblesse oblige as the matchmaking Don Pedro; Melanie Rey, seductive as the lusty servant, Margaret; and James Pascarella marvelously funny as the self-important clown Dogberry, who mangles the language as skillfully as Beatrice and Benedick manipulate it.

Aloysius Mullally brings an odd but interesting twist to the enigmatically evil Don John, a Iago-like figure whose only “reason” for causing unhappiness seems to be that he is terminally unhappy himself. Mullally plays him as if afflicted with a Charles Manson-like mission that can on occasion slip a sane mask on insanity to enlist others to help him. It’s a choice that should prove additionally spooky to those who last saw him as Mozart in the Lamb’s Players’ “Amadeus.” He renders both parts with a similar otherworldly flair. If Mozart is divinely inspired and Don John devilishly so, in this actor’s hands, they are brothers under the skin.

The music, composed and compiled by Mary Kidd, complements the superficially gay banter with a needed touch of melancholy as does a wandering guitar/banjo team.

There is room for much more fine tuning of many of the individual characterizations here. Claudio could be more impetuous in his love and his sorrow. Hero’s father, Leonato (David Cochran Heath) could be more forthcoming from the beginning with the pride that comes so close to doing his innocent daughter in. Borachio (Tim Tulumello) could be more clear in his transition from Don John’s hired gun to a man who confesses his villainy in a spirit of true remorse.

But if the Lamb’s Players Theatre production is not definitive, it is wonderfully accessible. The ensemble understands and brings across both the jokes and the pathos and remind us once again that Shakespeare, still one of modern theater’s most expensive and complicated playwrights to produce, can, with vision and heart, sometimes bring companies with even the most modest of means to unsuspected heights.

‘MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

By William Shakespeare. Director is Sally Smythe. Set by Christian Turner. Costumes by Veronica Murphy Smith. Lighting by Mike Buckley. Music composition and compilation by Mary Kidd. Choreography by Wade Collings. Stage manager is Sonja C. Anderson. With David Cochran Heath, Bill Barstad, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Mary Kidd, Luther Hanson, Robert Smyth, Lance Kidd, Aloysius Mullally, Melanie Rey, Kurt Reichert, Tim Tulumello, James Pascarella, Steve Gallion and Joe Falletta. At 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday with Saturday matinees at 2 and on the closing date, July 2. At 500 Plaza Blvd., National City.