Rylee McDonal~Copy Editor
Photo retrieved from Lynchburg Theater Facebook account.
The University of Lynchburg’s theater department debuted their production of Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing this past weekend.
From a comedic perspective, the play did very well. However, this is where the positives ended.
The actors played their roles amazingly well, giving the audience a good laugh from time-to-time.
As well, the energy that the majority of the actors brought to their roles allowed the audience to feel engaged and enthusiastic.
Throughout the play, the actors would often look into the audience when speaking their lines or performing a motion, which made it feel as though you were a part of the story.
However, when it comes to other parts of the play, it tends to fall short.
Shakespeare’s original comedy was written at the length of two hours and 30 minutes, while Lynchburg’s rendition was only one hour.
With this in mind, much of what took place in the play felt very rushed, which left characters with little background information and crossed plot lines.
Due to the language of the play, as well as the rushed plot lines, it was extremely difficult to follow along with what was actually happening.
When it came to the villain, he stood out among the other characters as being pompous and overbearing, while also disappearing randomly at the end of the play.
Costume choices, while looking beautiful, were extremely out of place for the time period that it was set in.
The play bill stated that the play took place during the Elizabethan period, which was the late 1500s, when the costumes that the men wore were more from the early 1600s.
This set the tone of a Hamilton-esque play that was spoken in Shakespearean English.
The redeeming quality of the play was the performances done by many of the actors, yet were dulled by poor directing choices.
I enjoyed the production. I agree with the above comment – probably a typo in the playbill. I thought the cast did an outstanding job, as well as the set design & construction crew, and the costume department. The Whitman’s have never disappointed this audience member. I say great job all, and looking forward to what is next. Thank you to EVERYONE who had a part in this (and every) show at University of Lynchburg.
but that’s the thing – they weren’t given enough to work with. and I would totally agree they did well with what they had and are talented, especially considering people cried from confusion and cringe. but I hate to tell you, it’s not discrediting anyone, it’s saying it was not the best it could have been if they had had more time. Had the play been held at the end of the semester, I have no doubt they would have killed it, but the short turnaround time was not in their favor.
I disagree. I think the cast did amazingly with what they had to work with, they were funny, on cue, and extremely talented. You can tell they really felt every emotion they gave on stage, and they kept me immersed. While the play was cut a little awkwardly, it’s my understanding that that was done for the sake of rehearsal time, and that they didn’t have time to do the whole show. The actors made do with the script they were given, and did it fantastically. And the costumes. The playbill said a different time period than the costumes were. It would seem to me that that would be a simple typo in the program rather than a bad reflection of the costuming department. I am very disappointed in this article, as it completely discredits our actors, staff, and theater department as a whole, for no good reason.
I feel like they could have done it really well if they had taken the time to learn the story and lines well, but otherwise it was rough. best characters hands down were Dogberry, Boraccio, and Conrade – Show stealers!