{"id":368091,"date":"2025-05-13T20:28:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T00:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=368091"},"modified":"2025-05-13T20:28:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T00:28:35","slug":"the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals’ ‘Much Ado About Nothing’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Director Shirley Long takes a big swing in her second attempt at guiding a cast through the Rude Mechanicals version of Much Ado About Nothing,<\/em> playing at Greenbelt Arts Center through May 17. She keeps Shakespeare\u2019s script but sets and costumes it in the home of a 21st-century judge in the DMV.<\/p>\n

Long comes up short in her interpretation. Greenbelt Arts Center\u2019s thrust stage allows ample room for plays within a play, but the sparse setting leaves some of the audience\u2019s views blocked, and the props often left me wondering what century I was in. For example, glass blocks were used as cell phones, and video boards set off center right and left displayed ads for Prince & Prince and Reelect Judge Leonato. The furniture took me back to Stratford-upon-Avon \u2014 except for a very cool mechanical unicycle, which left me feeling out of time and place.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Peri Walker as Hero, Rebecca Korn as Beatrice (in cart), and Joshua Engel as Arturo in \u2018Much Ado About Nothing.\u2019 Photo by Rachel Zirkin Duda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The troupe saves the day by performing a great story. A translation into contemporary English may have helped the audience understand the jokes better.<\/p>\n

The acting is delightful. Shakespeare is Shakespeare. The director fails to achieve her vision in this production. One reason is outdated sets. Another is the lack of depth given to Claudia.<\/p>\n

The Hero and Claudia relationship needs further development; the Claudia character seems unrealistic. Claudia is more na\u00efve than her position at Prince & Prince suggests. She idealizes Hero, putting her on a pedestal and viewing her as the epitome of virtue and perfection. Claudia’s impulsive nature is too easily influenced and manipulated by others. How many top DC lawyers are swayed like this?<\/p>\n

In true Shakespeare fashion, love is still a theme, and the close relationships between women and men tend to suffer as the players progress from friends to lovers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
TOP LEFT: Jenn Robinson as Margaret, Rebecca Korn as Beatrice, and Peri Walker as Hero; TOP RIGHT: Steven H. Wilson as Borachio and Joann Robertson as Joan; ABOVE: Wes Dennis as Prince, Scott Farquhar as Leonato, Claudia Bach as Claudia, Stephen Cox as Antonio, with Erin Nealer as Benedick (in the background), in \u2018Much Ado About Nothing.\u2019 Photos by Rachel Zirkin Duda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The best example is the relationship between Beatrice (Rebecca Korn) and Benedick (Erin Nealer). The two are constantly ribbing each other with witticisms, before members of the house decide to trick them into falling in love. The block to their love is internal: pride. They are funny as they proceed.<\/p>\n

Not to spoil the ending, but when this pair finally marries, they seal it with a kiss. Nealer held an actor\u2019s mask up to hide her laughing at this point.<\/p>\n

The primary love story features the host\u2019s daughter, Hero (Marianne Virnelson), and attorney Claudia (Claudia Bach). Claudia is captivated by Hero\u2019s beauty and innocence, and she quickly declares her feelings to Benedick.<\/p>\n

However, Virnelson and Bach play their roles as lovers through newness, loss, and redemption well. They need more time to develop this plot.<\/p>\n

Scott Farquhar is a fine Leonato, whether he is welcoming friends to his estate, sharing in laughs, defending Hero\u2019s honor, rebuking her, or planning her redemption. He does comedy and drama well. Wes Dennis plays a reserved Pedro Prince, the principal of Prince & Prince, PLC, a DC law firm specializing in law and public relations. Dennis played the dealmaker with a funny touch. He seemed capable of stealing scenes, but he did not. Virnelson is excellent in her death scene.<\/p>\n

Alan Duda, Jaki Demarest, Liana Olear, Peter Orvetti, and Daniel Douek create the most peaceful, inept gendarmery to wander the streets of DC. And yet they hilariously uncover the crime of the week, unraveling Joan the Bastard\u2019s (Joann Robertson) block to love.<\/p>\n

The performance was elevated by the captivating songs of Danielle Delgado, complemented perfectly by the music of Matt Etner. Their contributions added an exciting new dimension to the experience.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Approximately two hours, including one 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n

Much Ado About Nothing<\/strong> <\/em><\/a> plays through May 17, 2025, presented by The Rude Mechanicals <\/a>performing at Greenbelt Arts Center<\/a>, 123 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD. To purchase tickets ($24, general admission; $22, senior\/military; $12, child\/student), call (301) 317-7964 or go online.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

COVID Safety:<\/strong> Masks are optional.<\/p>\n

Much Ado About Nothing<\/strong><\/em>
\nBy William Shakespeare
\nDirected by Shirley Long<\/p>\n

CAST
\nScott Farquhar: Leonato
\nDaneille Delgado: Balthasar
\nRebecca Korn: Beatrice
\nMarianne Virnelson: Hero
\nWes Dennis: Pedro Prince
\nErin Nealer: Benedick
\nJoann Robertson: Joan the Bastard
\nClaudia Bach: Claudia
\nMonica Duckles: Conrade
\nSteven Wilson: Borachio
\nMatt Etner: Musician
\nStephan Cox: Antonio
\nJenn Robinson: Margaret
\nJoshua Engel: Arturo
\nDaniel Douek: Dogberry
\nPeter Orvetti Verges
\nSamuel Kopel: Seacoal
\nLiana Olear: Oatcake
\nJaki Demarest: 3rd Watch
\nAlan Duda: 4th Watch
\nStuart Fischer: Reverend
\nChris Dullnig: Sexton<\/p>\n

CREW
\nLiana Olear: Producer\/Stage Manager
\nJaki Demarest: Assistant Director
\nAlan Duda: Assistant Director
\nJeff Poretsky: Technical Director
\nSam Kopel: Stage Crew<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day. By ANDY ARNOLD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":372346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,17],"tags":[534,204],"class_list":{"0":"post-368091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-theater","8":"category-maryland","9":"tag-shirley-long","10":"tag-william-shakespeare"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing' - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DC Theater Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T00:28:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Arnold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Arnold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/\",\"name\":\"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing' - DC Theater Arts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T00:28:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e8f1d66a469e0ffb3cfefc438a3b8f41\"},\"description\":\"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Peri Walker as Hero, Rebecca Korn as Beatrice (in cart), and Joshua Engel as Arturo in \u2018Much Ado About Nothing.\u2019 Photo by Rachel Zirkin Duda.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals’ ‘Much Ado About Nothing’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\",\"name\":\"DC Theater Arts\",\"description\":\"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e8f1d66a469e0ffb3cfefc438a3b8f41\",\"name\":\"Andy Arnold\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a186896599dfb9d05e6ab080b2d0829602911b6401d88987e1b9353136609a95?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a186896599dfb9d05e6ab080b2d0829602911b6401d88987e1b9353136609a95?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Arnold\"},\"description\":\"Andy Arnold is a long-time newspaper reporter whose beats have included community news, government, op\/ed, politics, and sports.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/andy-arnold\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing' - DC Theater Arts","description":"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing'","og_description":"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.","og_url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/","og_site_name":"DC Theater Arts","article_published_time":"2025-05-14T00:28:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Arnold","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Arnold","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/","name":"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals' 'Much Ado About Nothing' - DC Theater Arts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-05-14T00:28:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e8f1d66a469e0ffb3cfefc438a3b8f41"},"description":"The direction swings big and misses, but the actors save the day.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cart-800x600-1-1.jpeg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"Peri Walker as Hero, Rebecca Korn as Beatrice (in cart), and Joshua Engel as Arturo in \u2018Much Ado About Nothing.\u2019 Photo by Rachel Zirkin Duda."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/05\/13\/the-acting-is-delightful-in-rude-mechanicals-much-ado-about-nothing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The acting is delightful in Rude Mechanicals’ ‘Much Ado About Nothing’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/","name":"DC Theater Arts","description":"Washington, DC's most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e8f1d66a469e0ffb3cfefc438a3b8f41","name":"Andy Arnold","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a186896599dfb9d05e6ab080b2d0829602911b6401d88987e1b9353136609a95?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a186896599dfb9d05e6ab080b2d0829602911b6401d88987e1b9353136609a95?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Andy Arnold"},"description":"Andy Arnold is a long-time newspaper reporter whose beats have included community news, government, op\/ed, politics, and sports.","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/andy-arnold\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}