Public Theater Mobile Unit production of Much Ado About Nothing continues in parks through June 29 (photo by Peter Cooper)
PUBLIC THEATER MOBILE UNIT: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Multiple locations in all five boroughs
June 3-29, free (no RSVP necessary)
publictheater.org
Composer and lyricist Julián Mesri and director and choreographer Rebecca Martínez follow up their 2023–24 Public Theater Mobile Unit hit, The Comedy of Errors, with another fun, and free, outdoor treat, a streamlined bilingual adaptation of the Bard favorite Much Ado About Nothing.
The hundred-minute show takes place on a colorfully designed square platform with two ceramic-like chairs with red-flowering cacti on top; the set, by Riw Rakkulchon, evokes the work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The audience sits on three sides of the stage, with the costumes, props, and pianist and guitarist behind the fourth side, where you can see the cast prepare for scenes with the help of very busy stagehands.
The actors make use of the entire space, walking through the aisles and settling under trees, so it’s a hoot watching passersby wonder what’s going on — or pay no attention at all, not letting anything get in the way of where they’re going. (I saw the show when it was performed on the Fortieth St. side of the New York Public Library; it was previously at Astor Plaza and will continue at J. Hood Wright Park, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Sunset Park, A.R.R.O.W. Field House, and the Queens Night Market through June 29.)
The narrative is not quite as tight as the earlier The Comedy of Errors, so it helps to be familiar with the details of the play; in addition, not all the Spanish is translated into English, and vice versa. Don Pedro of Aragon (Hiram Delgado) returns to Messina after a fierce battle, accompanied by Señor Benedick of Padua (Nathan M. Ramsey) and the right noble Count Claudio (Daniel Bravo Hernández); Governor Leonato (Robert Marcelo Jiménez) readies a welcome celebration for them. While Claudio falls instantly in love with Leonato’s daughter, Hero (usually Mayelah Barrera, but I saw terrific understudy Katherine George), Leonato’s niece, Beatrice (Keren Lugo), has a verbal altercation with Benedick.
Benedick (Nathan M. Ramsey) and Beatrice (Keren Lugo) have a tilted relationship in reimagined Bard tale (photo by Peter Cooper)
Beatrice: I wonder that you will still be talking, Señor Benedick: nobody marks you.
Benedick: What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?
Beatrice: Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Señor Benedick?
Benedick: But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart; for, truly, I love none.
Beatrice: A dear happiness to women: they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. Le doy gracias a Dios y a mi sangre fría — que en eso estamos de acuerdo: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.
Benedick: God keep your ladyship still in that mind! So some gentleman or other shall ’scape a predestinate scratched face.
Beatrice: Scratching could not make it worse, an ’twere such a face as yours were.
Benedick: I would my horse had the speed of your tongue. But keep your way, i’ God’s name; yo ya estoy.
Beatrice: Siempre con el mismo numerito — ya te tengo calado.
The bastard Don Juan (Martín Ortiz), jealous of the respect his half brother, Don Pedro, receives, enlists the squire Borachio (usually Carlo Albán, but I saw understudy Jonathan Gabriel Mousset) to throw a wrench into the blooming love between Hero and Claudio, singing, “It’s time to shake off this shame! / To take what’s rightfully mine!” Tricking Margaret (Sara Ornelas), Hero’s lady-in-waiting, Borachio and Conrade (Ortiz) convince the night watch that Hero has been unfaithful prior to her nuptials. On the case is the local constable, Dogberry (Cornelius McMoyler), and his two assistants, Verges (Delgado) and Sexton (Ornelas). Mistaken identity, misunderstandings, a masquerade ball, spying, lying, pratfalls, and private letters all come into play in one of the Bard’s most beloved comedies.
The presentation is delightful from start to finish, even with too much repetition and too many gaps. Shakespeare purists might miss several famous lines, but key ones are still there: “Speak low, if you speak love,” “She speaks daggers, and every word stabs,” “Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.” Mesri’s lovely score features such songs as “I Will Wait for You (Te Esperaré),” “Don Juan the Villain,” “Hey Nonny Nonny,” and “Hay Que Cantar,” although there is less music in the second half; Mousset plays the guitar on- and offstage, with music director Angela Ortiz on piano.
Christopher Vergara dresses some characters in modern-day suits and others in colorful military garb and elegant gowns. The cast, which is having as much fun, if not more, than the audience, is led by charming turns by Lugo, George, Jiménez, and Ornelas, who at times resembles Kahlo. Sound designer Tye Hunt Fitzgerald competes with traffic and wind.
Admission is free, with no advance RSVP necessary. Be sure to arrive early to catch the troupe doing a group sound check and getting into their costumes. Stage manager Ada Zhang and assistant stage manager Bea Perez-Arche keep it all moving with expert precision.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]