By Milton Kent
Special to the AFRO
Timothy Douglas’ adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is now appearing at Washington’s Folger Theatre through Nov. 29 (Courtesy Photo)
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(November 4, 2009) - At first blush, it may seem a daunting task to bring a fresh take to 400- year-old material, but that didn’t stop director Timothy Douglas from trying.
In Douglas’ adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, now appearing at Washington’s Folger Theatre through Nov. 29, convention is turned on its head on a number of fronts.
Not only has Douglas lifted Much Ado out of its familiar surroundings of Messina, Italy, and transposed it to an alley in the H St. corridor, but he has linked the play’s setting to Washington’s Caribbean Carnival.
“By putting us in this atmosphere, it’s really given us the opportunity to find new things,’’ said Roxi Victorian, one of the female leads, as well as the play’s choreographer. “It’s given us so much freedom to not be stuck in expectations. It’s allowed us to operate really in a contemporary realm in such a classical piece.”
Much Ado, one of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, turns on the story of Claudio and Hero, lovers who are to be married in a week. In that time, the two conspire, with some assistance, to trick their feuding friends, Beatrice and Benedick, into falling in love with each other and confessing that love.
Douglas, who made his professional directorial debut at the Folger 14 years ago in a production of Richard III, retains the dialogue of the 16th and 17th centuries.
However, the sensibilities of the play are quite modern. For instance, the two male leads, played by Howard W. Overshown and Alexis Camins, are District police officers, rather than soldiers.
There is an on-stage DJ in this production of Much Ado, something the Bard likely never envisioned. And the score includes music from Bob Marley and Chuck Brown.
“For us, it’s almost like it’s a contemporary play in the way the words are beginning to roll off our tongues,’ said Victorian, who plays Hero. “It’s a really wonderful thing to experience.”
One of Douglas’ other contemporary flourishes is to bolster the roles of Hero and Beatrice, as played by Rachel Leslie, as well as those of other women in the production.
“I think that [stronger female roles] will transcend to all audiences and I think that when women in particular come to see this show that they’ll be really pleased with that,’ said Victorian, a Howard graduate.
“They’ll be pleased with the level of almost outspokenness, the level of strength that the two women have. I don’t think there’s anything small about either of the women in this show and I think that’s wonderful.”