Summary 
Light entertainment bolstered by strong, mature performances in the two leads and by consistent supporting performances. Sharply focused on Beatrice and Benedick and on Dogberry and his watch.
Design
Directed by Debbie Alley. Set by John Stark. Costumes by Jenny Mannis. Lights by Julie Mack. Sound by Joshua Horvath.
Cast
Elizabeth Audley (Beatrice), Christopher Oden (Benedick), Henson Keys (Leonato), Hannah Wolfe (Hero), Kelsey Nash (Claudio), Jeremy Van Meter (Don Pedro), Eddie Collins (Don John), Matt Daniels (Dogberry).
Analysis
Debbie Alley directs Much Ado About Nothing with an astute sense of balance, counterpointing Beatrice and Benedick's verbal fireworks with the slapstick antics of Dogberry's watch, and moving quickly through the remainder. The outdoor set features peaches-and-cream-brightness, citrus trees and green bushes, and running water in a fountain at stage right. Christopher Oden and Elizabeth Audley are strong as Benedick and Beatrice, he a trim and fit long-haired boy somewhere in his thirties, playing callow fencing games with his younger fellow soldiers, and she a matronly firebrand with a droll, Ellen Degeneres-style delivery she complements with laugh-getting, hands-on-hips eye rolls and head shakes.
Artistic director Alec Wild lures national acting talent to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, continuing a Festival mission to offer sophisticated outdoor Shakespeare "in the heart of Illinois." Along with the usual Illinois State University contingent, the acting company is strong from top to bottom, a departure from recent seasons in which directors struggled with uneven onstage talent and experience. As Alley noted in an interview, it is more rewarding to work with an experienced company that is confident in presenting its own ideas - especially Equity veterans like Oden and Audley - rather than less mature performers who may be "trepidatious" about their ideas.
Oden and Audley both give indications of maturity in their appearance and standing among the other characters, but both also provide endearingly comic touches: Benedick wins his sophomoric swordsmanship contest by kissing Claudio full on the mouth, then chases after young townswomen; Beatrice races headlong across the stage "like a lapwing," head down and arms out, then erupts into atrocious bird calls. During their respective eavesdropping scenes, Benedick chews right into the prickly bush he was concealed behind and spits out branches, and Beatrice, overcome with emotion, carnally embraces the same green bush like a long-lost lover.
While Oden and Audley provide the heart of the production, Dogberry and his watchmen are the slapstick crowd pleasers. Dogberry's stiff and practiced pageantry, including an outrageous salute, recalls the preening posture of the scholars in Love's Labour's Lost, performed in repertory with this Much Ado - indeed, buffoonery knows no education - and the Keystone Kops-like madcap dash to inform Leonato in 3.5 is accomplished amid Dogberry's whistle, Vargas's pathetic bugle, and the brandishing of various farming implements. During the final celebratory dance, the watch - led by a dexterous and high-kicking Dogberry - dances wildly in the gallery above, then bestows flowers down upon the happy couples as the production concludes. The ovation they receive from the audience at curtain call is stirring on a sweltering summer night.
Note: A version of this article was edited and published as a season overview in Shakespeare Bulletin, Vol.26, No.3, Fall 2008.
Photos © Pete Guither 2007