Genesius Guild's "Much Ado About Nothing" at Lincoln Park -- June 21 through 29.
Saturday, June 21, through Sunday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Lincoln Park, 1120 40th Street, Rock Island IL
One of William Shakespeare's most memorable and beloved romantic comedies returns to Rock Island's Lincoln Park when Genesius Guild presents its June 21 through 29 staging of Much Ado About Nothing, the Bard-ian classic that enjoyed a Tony-winning Broadway run in 1985, a 1993 movie showcase for Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, and a 2011 black-and-white film modernization by pop icon Joss Whedon.
In Much Ado About Nothing's timeless tale of love, laughs, and mistaken assumptions, the war is over, and Pedro, Prince of Aragon, with his followers Benedick and Claudio, visits Leonato, Duke of Messina, who is also the father of Hero and uncle of Beatrice. While Claudio falls in love with Hero and their marriage is agreed upon, the verbally warring Beatrice and Benedick claim to despise love, which no one around them believes. Those in their orbit consequently plot to make them fall in love with each other through means of a trick in which Benedick will overhear his friends talking of Beatrice's supposed secret love for him, and vice versa. Meanwhile, Don John, the prince's misanthropic illegitimate brother, contrives a more malicious plot with the assistance of his follower Borachio, and Claudio is led to believe that he has witnessed Hero in a compromising situation on the night before her wedding day. In this wholly accessible, widely adored comedy, everything that could possibly go wrong with its love stories does, and the ways in which disaster is defeated are more than half the fun.
Directing Much Ado About Nothing are Genesius Guild veterans and Haus of Ruckus founders T Green and Calvin Vo, who together appeared in 2022's Lincoln Park presentation of A Midsummer Night's Dream and directed and adapted the recent season-closing Greek slapsticks Plutus, The Wasps, and The Frogs. The warring Benedick and Beatrice are respectively portrayed by Michael Kintigh and Cayla Odendahl, with additionally notable figures portrayed by: Matt Walsh (Leonato); Cameryn Bergthold (Hero); Ross Richart (Claudio); Emma Hughes (Don John); and Reader theatre reviewer Mischa Hooker (Leonato). Co-director Green plays the malapropism-prone Dogberry, Vo plays Verges on the show's second weekend (with Max Robnett assuming the role during weekend one), and Much Ado's gifted cast is completed by: Nathan Elgation; Christian Wellner; David Wellner; Inna Gomez; Juno King; Inara Weigand.
Much Ado About Nothing will be performed in Rock Island's Lincoln Park June 21 through 29, with performances Saturdays and Sundays at 7 p.m. Although admission is free, donations are gratefully accepted, and more information is available by visiting Genesius.org.
