Word: ado
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...volatile issues. Incensed at Black Panther Bobby Scale, the defiant defendant whom Hoffman had ordered gagged and manacled to his chair, the 74-year-old judge suddenly declared a mistrial for Seale and found him guilty on 16 charges of contempt of court. Without much further ado, Hoffman sentenced Seale to three months in prison on each count - a total of four years...
AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, Stratford, Conn, (through Sept. 14). The comedy Much Ado About Nothing is directed by London's Peter Gill in his American debut; Henry V has Len Cariou in the title role; while Hamlet is a stunning full-length version with Brian Bedford as the prince, Maria Tucci as Ophelia and Morris Carnovsky as Polonius. For variety, Chekhov makes a premier appearance at this festival in a supple staging of The Three Sisters...
...Festival has offered Much Ado twice before. In 1957 Alfred Drake was the most brilliant Benedick I've ever seen (perhaps partly because Drake is also a singer); but Katharine Hepburn was just no match for him. Then Philip Bosco was a magnificently vibrant Benedick in 1964, but Jacqueline Brookes couldn't come close...
...cast up to the level of his Beatrice and Benedick, almost to a man. Although the text rises and sags, all the component groups of characters come across on a rather evenly balanced level; it is this that makes the play seem better than it really is. This Much Ado is a real company show. Just about everyone speaks cleanly, crisply, intelligibly, and with adequate projection; and there are precious few of those unintentionally ear-assaulting vowels that mar most large-cast Shakespearean productions...
...look for anything more in this play than pure entertainment. As such, however, this production is the most nearly satisfying Much Ado in my experience...