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You've got a young, passionate, slow-witted couple and an older, ironic, quick-witted couple. Add to that an evil villain who is evil because ... because ... because he's so villainous -- say no more about it. Plus you have classic clowns: the tall thin one and the short stout one trip over themselves and one another in their attempts to be graceful. Two cops are so timid that they detect, undetected, a villainous plot.
In addition, you have sly tricks that turn cheeky antagonists (the older couple) into bashful sweethearts. And, of course, there's the uninhibited happy ending.
For some reason William Shakespeare called it "Much Ado about Nothing." But when you think about it, his confection is actually much ado about practically everything you need in a romantic comedy.
Director Rita Giomi's Seattle Shakespeare Company production of "Much Ado" is deftly edited and cleverly acted.
As Benedick, the older boyfriend, Paul Morgan Stetler depicts a guy who wants his buddies to believe that he is totally tough and cool as he inexorably slides into the realm of warm and mushy. Stetler is a study in comic misgivings.
Todd Jefferson Moore and Don Darryl Rivera are exquisitely clumsy as a tall/short pair of civic functionaries. Also, Rivera does a nice job singing Shakespeare's songs set to music of his own devising. In the difficult role of Claudio, the passionate young boyfriend, MJ Sieber makes sense of senseless actions by portraying a privileged, sentimental, hot-blooded meathead -- the sort to whom heedless destructive and self-destructive actions come naturally.
"Much Ado" is a play about men stumbling all over themselves in varied efforts to display slick exteriors and hide messy innards. In one scene, director Giomi enhances their dicey game by having them play bocce ball while they perpetrate an elaborate trick on Benedick.
Women in this world are secondary. Stephanie Shine as the older girlfriend and Alexandra Tavares as the younger one hold up their ends adequately. But Giomi does little to enhance their standing. When it's the women's turn to play an ingenious trick, for example, they are not fortified with any bocce-type stage business.
Giomi's women fulfill their plot-determined duties. But their lack of emphasis sometimes gives the production an unbalanced, unfinished quality.
"Much Ado" plays at the Center House Theatre, Seattle Center, through June 25. Tickets are $27-$30, discounts for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more; 206-733-8222 or www.seattleshakespeare.org
'Sex in Seattle 13' A considerable chunk of episode 13 of "Sex in Seattle" is "like 'Thelma and Louise' -- with Brad Pitt." This according to George (aka El Jorge). George and Kenneth would be Thelma and Louise. The Pitt part falls to Elizabeth.
George and Kenneth have abducted Elizabeth only minutes after the minister pronounced her and Harold "husband and wife." The abduction was motivated by ... well, forget all that. Suffice it to say that there's a car chase, terrible accident, a fistfight and a shocking revelation.
Prior to that, Harold was mentoring Colin about how to be a babe magnet. The babe Colin specifically wants to attract is Tess. Meanwhile Tess is spending time with Nathan, who is an "egg" -- white on the outside, yellow (Asian) on the inside. Imagine Chloe's consternation -- she is pining to get her hands on Nathan.
In other news Kenneth (remember Kenneth?) has a sister, Jenna, who is attempting to establish a serious relationship with the skittish Adam.
Playwright Kathy Hsieh plants unobtrusive seedlings of significance in this steamy, disorderly jungle. Discussions plausibly arise about the differences between Asian men (like Harold) and Asian American men (like Colin). George is shocked by Elizabeth's discriminatory romantic strictures.
"I thought only white people could be racist," he says. The line got a big laugh from a largely Asian American audience Saturday night.
Director Miko Premo gets peppy performances out of her two dozen cast members.
"Sex in Seattle" has been popping up off and on, here and there, for six years now. The story line tracks four twentysomething Asian American women and their various friends and enemies, lovers and lusters. Episode 13 is titled "Risking It All for Love." The material is giddy, but Premo sometimes has trouble sustaining a breathless pace. The give and take of dialogue occasionally drags. And blackouts between scenes, with cumbersome comings and goings of scenery, stall momentum.
Even so, the stakes inherent in risking it all for love are attention grabbers. And the current installment has a who-gets-caught-where-and-when-and-why scene that is worthy of the Parisian bedroom farces of 100 years ago.
"Sex in Seattle" plays at the Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., through June 24. Tickets are $12, students/seniors/actors $8, discounts for groups; 206-323-9443 or www.sexinseattle.org.
-- Joe Adcock
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