Nice Chemistry Amid a So-So ‘Much Ado’

Director Ellen Geer’s version of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, is an uneven affair that doesn’t shine as brightly as other recent productions of the play. But it features some winning performances.

As the duo of Benedick and Beatrice, Jim LeFave (alternating with Steve Matt) and Melora Marshall (alternating with Susan Angelo) share a humorous, playful chemistry. LeFave’s Benedick has a lovable, boastful bluster, and Marshall’s Beatrice is a merry woman with little ego who shields her wary heart with her linguistic zingers.

This light tripping wit of Marshall’s Beatrice deftly deflects Don Pedro’s proposal--an awkward moment in some productions, but under Geer’s sensitive direction it passes smoothly. Justin Doran’s Don Pedro is a young noble weighted down by his high office--commanding but somewhat melancholy.

Yet Geer’s staging of the masquerade party is static instead of a boisterous, confusing affair that affords the pretense of mistaken identity. The stage whispers aren’t always differentiated from the regular dialogue, especially during Beatrice’s and Benedick’s respective eavesdropping sequences.

This production doesn’t have the inspiration and polish of this year’s South Coast Repertory production or the zest of last summer’s nomadic Shakespeare Festival/LA’s interpretation, but it boasts some good performances.

*

* “Much Ado About Nothing,” Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Sundays, 4 p.m. Ends Sept. 30. $14-$20. (310) 455-3723. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.