DC Caribbean Production of Much Ado About Nothing

I remember the moment I fell in love with William Shakespeare. I don’t mean that in the romantic sense in case anyone has already become disturbed by that statement. I meant it of course in the poetic sense and anyone who loves the bard will known exactly what I mean and will likely remember their moment of discovery as well. And I’m not talking about a first encounter with reading one of his plays or even seeing a live production for the first time. For every lover of Shakespeare, okay I mean for many, there is an epiphanic moment that occurs during a particularly fabulous performance or production or even moment of “ah ha” reading a play that will forever bind one’s heart and soul to the great plays of this Elizabethan writer.

So, with that elaborate introduction, I set the plot in motion and say that mine occurred very recently. In fact it was last October when I was in DC with my father. My father is a lobbyist and had to be in town for his work. I always find this to be particularly tedious and am not interested in his field. I also happen to be a sophomore English major in college and have been more interested in the twentieth century American writers than anything else. Last semester I took a Shakespeare class, it was required and didn’t really want to. During the last week of October my dad told me he had to go to DC for a couple of days and really wanted me to go with him. You see, my part time job is taking notes for him in these situations and sort of acting like a secretary. Generally I would stay in the hotel room and type up his notes.

Anyway, while we were there I noticed an ad for the Folgers Theater production of Much Ado About Nothing. It happened to be on our list of reading for the semester and my idea was to see the play and not have to read it. So, I talked my father into taking me to it. What happened was utterly amazing. I had never imagined Shakespeare could be so dynamic, spectacular and well, easy to understand. It was like it took place in a sort of Caribbean carnival context, though I believe it was set right there in DC. It really felt like more of a contemporary play and I didn’t have any trouble getting it, if you know what I mean. Ultimately I couldn’t wait to read the play after I saw that and was excited to tell my instructor about it when I returned to school. The funny part is he thought I saw it because I was interested in Shakespeare, not because I was trying to get out of reading a play. I decided not to make much ado over it

Hip Young Things

DC Caribbean Production of Much Ado About Nothing

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