Much
Ado About Nothing
“Marin Shakespeare
uses every tool in the box….They master
period dances, they people their villa with distinct
and fleshy characters, they enjoy one another tremendously,
and they take great charge of the language, playing
brightly with the bard’s barbed words….Intimate
and boisterous all at the same time, the world
of Robert Currier’s Much Ado is
a charming one to inhabit this season.”
Chrisanne Beckner, Commuter Times
“Much Ado About
Nothing is cleverly rendered by the Marin
Shakespeare Festival. Especially diverting are
Kimberly King’s cigar-smoking, sword-wielding
Beatrice and Danny Kovacs’
malaprop-prone Dogberry.” Pacific Sun
“Much Ado About Nothing is a
most enjoyable play, competently acted and directed
and well worth seeing.”
Bess Davoren, Tiburon Ark
“In the Marin Shakespeare
Festival production, the quarreling lovers – confirmed
bachelor Benedick and quick-witted spinster Beatrice – are
played by real-life husband-and-wife team Ken Grantham
and Kimberly King….Grantham
and King are consummate actors who draw all the humor
(and then some) from their roles. At one point he hides
behind a clothesline and, eyes popping, learns that
Beatrice loves him rather than hating him. And she
steals the show when, quite unexpected, she bursts
into song with a glorious voice worthy of the Metropolitan
Opera. It’s a light and engaging interpretation.”
Maggie Crum, Contra Costa Times
 “King is a sharp, wise-cracking
Beatrice, aiming her barbs at Benedick with Groucho
Marx-like timing that makes almost every quip count.
She’s so poised in her self-assurance that her
confusion becomes that much funnier, as when she’s
bowled over by Don Pedro’s out-of-the-blue proposal.
She’s so determinedly merry that her sudden serious
reaction to Hero’s betrayal cracks like a whip.
Grantham is a thoughtful and complex Benedick, always
ready with a quick comeback – except when overmatched
by Beatrice – but touched by a sadness that tinges
his humor with defensiveness.
We can feel his attraction for Beatrice before he becomes
aware of it, and revel in the conflicting emotions
of the scene in which they finally confess their love.
Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Examiner
“Much Ado celebrates love, laughter.
Robert Currier has created some wickedly funny scenes.” Mary
Connell, Novato Advance
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