Excerpt from Mail Tribune (Medford, OR), Bill Varble
June 17, 2009
In the eavesdropping scene in the new "Much Ado About Nothing" that opened Sunday on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Elizabethan Stage, the concealed Benedick, warmly played by David Kelly, slips into a pool of water in Leonato's (Bill Geisslinger) garden. As his friends prattle loudly about Beatrice's supposed love for him, the astonished Benedick stays down for a very long time.
A great spurt of water finally arcs forth, and a drenched Benedick emerges. Kelly is a gifted comic actor, and this is exactly the sort of moment that Kate Buckley, directing her third production of the play, knows how to stage.
Buckley's warmhearted staging and engaging performances by OSF veterans Kelly and Robynn Rodriguez, who plays Beatrice, keep the production focused on the play's light side while skirting the darkness always lurking near the play's two-hearted center.
To read the full review, click here.
Bill Varble - Excerpt from Mail Tribune (Medford, OR),