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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. Much Ado About Nothing Also see Susan's reviews of Cherokee, King Hedley II, The Metromaniacs, Dunsinane and Godspell
Director Paata Tsikurishvili and script adapter Nathan Weinberger have set the comic battle of the sexes in a fantasy version of 1950s Las Vegas, where Leonato (Peter Pereyra) is a mob-connected casino owner and Don Pedro (Philip Fletcher) heads a motorcycle gang. Beatrice (Irina Tsikurishvili, also the choreographer) is the star singer in the showroom at Leonato's casino, while biker Benedick (Ben Cunis, also the fight choreographer) is a tough guy hiding a tender heart. The production's enchantment begins at once with a (non-Shakespearean) prologue showing soldiers and sailors returning from World War II to the women they left behind. (The central image recreates the iconic Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph of a sailor sweeping a woman into a back-bending kiss in Times Square to celebrate the end of the war.) Beatrice and Benedick were in love then but Benedick felt the need to move on, soon joining the bikers with their slicked-down hair and switchblade knives. Irina Tsikurishvili gives many of the best moves to herself and Cunis: she converts the couple's elaborate verbal squabbles into acrobatic tangles and slapstick bits, but also provides them with a sweet fantasy duet on a bike. Other highlights include a knife duel between Don Pedro and the tortured Don John (Dallas Tolentino), some sexy business by Don John's follower Conrad (Toni Bertocci), and the inspired physical comedy for the cops led by Dogberry (Vato Tsikurishvili, who occasionally resembles a granite slab doing flips). The stagecraft seems as fluid as the performers, with Daniel Pinha's cleverly contrived set that incorporates both a Mylar curtain and several graffiti-covered wall panels, and Kendra Rai's bright costumes. The lively musical accompaniment features instrumental versions of just-familiar-enough swing and rock-and-roll songs. Synetic Theater
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