Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both London's West End (1986) and Broadway (1989). It received nine Tony Award nominations and won for Best Actor and Best Director. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in twenty-five countries.
Synopsis:
The play takes place in 1934, in a hotel suite in Cleveland, Ohio. The two-room set has a sitting room
with a sofa and chairs at right and a bedroom at left. A center "stage
wall" divides the two rooms, with a door leading from one room to the
other. (Throughout the play, the audience can see what's happening in
both rooms at the same time.)
Act I
As Scene I of the play opens, Henry Saunders, general manager of the
Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tito
Merelli, a world-famous Italian opera tenor, known as "Il Stupendo" to
his many fans. Merelli is coming to Cleveland to sing the lead role in a
performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello.
It's the biggest event in the Cleveland Opera's history. A sellout
crowd and the members of the Cleveland Opera Guild will be at the opera
house that evening to see the great Merelli.
Saunders' harried assistant, Max, is also in the hotel suite.
Saunders has charged Max with seeing to Merelli's needs, and with
getting Merelli to the opera house in time for the performance. Also
there is Maggie Saunders, Henry's daughter and Max's
sometime-girlfriend. Maggie is a fan of Tito Merelli, and hopes to meet
him (and, she confesses to Max, she is romantically attracted to the
famous opera singer).
Tito finally arrives at the hotel suite, accompanied by his
hot-tempered Italian wife, Maria, who is jealous because Tito flirts
with other women. When she finds Maggie hiding in the bedroom closet,
trying to get Tito's autograph, Maria angrily assumes that Maggie is
Tito's secret lover. Maria writes Tito a "Dear John" letter, and leaves
the hotel.
In the sitting room, Max gives Tito a tranquilizer-laced drink,
trying to calm him down before the performance. (Unbeknownst to either
of them, Tito accidentally takes a double-dose of tranquilizers.) When
he learns that Max is an aspiring opera singer, Tito kindly gives Max a
singing lesson, teaching him to "loosen up" and sing with more
confidence. Tito and Max sing a duet together ("Dio, che nell'alma
infondere" from Verdi's Don Carlos).
When Tito returns to the bedroom, he finds Maria's note. Horrified
that his wife has left him, Tito goes into a fit of passion and tries to
"kill himself" with various non-lethal objects (i.e. trying to stab
himself with a wine bottle). Max manages to calm Tito down ("This is not
an Italian opera!"), and takes the singer into the bedroom, where Tito
lies down on the bed for a rest.
Much later (Scene II), Max is unable to wake Tito from his nap. Max
finds an empty medicine bottle and Maria's "Dear John" letter, which is
written in such a way ("By the time you read this, I will be gone.")
that Max mistakenly thinks Tito has committed suicide. When Saunders
arrives, Max tearfully tells him that Tito is dead.
Saunders is furious. The opera performance will have to be cancelled,
and the audience will demand their money back. It will be a disaster
for the Cleveland opera, and for Saunders himself. ("Why did he have to
kill himself before the performance? He could have waited until tomorrow morning and jumped out the window after breakfast!")
However, Saunders comes up with a plan. Since no one else knows that
Tito is dead, Max will step into the Othello role and pretend to be
Tito. Wearing Tito's costume and makeup, Max will star in the opera
performance. The audience will never know that it is not Tito Merelli,
and they can announce Tito's death tomorrow morning. Max reluctantly
agrees to the plan. He goes into the bathroom to change, and later
returns, dressed as Othello, in a costume, wig, and blackface makeup. As the curtain falls on Act One, Saunders and Max leave for the performance, just as Tito wakes up in the bedroom.
Act II
As the second act opens, Saunders and Max return to the hotel suite.
Max's performance as Othello was a huge success, and no one suspected
that he was not Tito. Then Saunders gets a phone call, telling him that
the police are downstairs in the lobby. They are looking for "a lunatic
dressed as Othello, who thinks he's Tito Merelli." During Max's
performance, the "lunatic" tried to force his way into the opera house,
hit a policeman who tried to stop him, and ran away.
Saunders tells Max to quickly change out of his Othello costume and
makeup, while he goes downstairs to handle the police. Max returns to
the bedroom, but is shocked and horrified to find Tito is missing from
the bed. Still wearing his Othello costume, Max leaves the hotel suite
and runs to find Saunders.
A few seconds later, Tito Merelli returns to the hotel suite, also
dressed as Othello, in a costume, wig, and blackface makeup. Frantic and
on the run from the police, Tito is even more confused when other
characters in the play show up to congratulate him on his "magnificent
performance" as Othello.
For the rest of the play, Max and Tito—who are identical in their
Othello costumes and makeup—are repeatedly mistaken for each other, as
they alternately run in and out of the hotel suite. Max is mistaken for
Tito, and Tito is mistaken for Max by Saunders. (The play is a classic
example of "a door-slamming farce.")
Also, Tito and Max both find themselves being romantically pursued by
Maggie Saunders, and by Diana, the Cleveland Opera's sexy and ambitious
soprano. Eventually, Diana seduces Tito in the bedroom, while Maggie
simultaneously seduces Max (who she thinks is Tito) in the living room.
At the end of the play, things are sorted out. Maria returns to the
hotel and makes up with the bewildered Tito ("Maria, darling, get-a me
outta here!"), while Max manages to step into the bathroom long enough
to change out of his Othello costume and wig, and emerge as himself.
Tito and Maria leave together, while Saunders accompanies Diana to a
downstairs reception. Maggie realizes that not only was Max the "Tito"
that she made love to, he was also the "Tito" who sang so passionately
in tonight's opera performance. As the play closes, Max and Maggie share
a kiss.
Link to the review by The Morning Call here
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play,
and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying out
some of the themes and motifs with which he would later deal in more
detail; for example, it is the first of his plays in which a heroine
dresses as a boy. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, to whom "the most scene-stealing non-speaking role in the canon" has been attributed.
Two Gentlemen is often regarded as one of Shakespeare's weakest plays. It has the smallest named cast of any play by Shakespeare
Synopsis:
As the play begins, Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan
so as to broaden his horizons. He begs his best friend, Proteus, to come
with him, but Proteus is in love with Julia, and refuses to leave.
Disappointed, Valentine bids Proteus farewell and goes on alone.
Meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta, who tells
Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, however, acts
coyly, embarrassed to admit that she likes him. Lucetta then produces a
letter; she will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it
was Valentine's servant, Speed, who brought it from Proteus. Julia,
still unwilling to reveal her love in front of Lucetta, angrily tears up
the letter. She sends Lucetta away, but then, realising her own
rashness, she picks up the fragments of the letter and kisses them,
trying to piece them back together.
Meanwhile, Proteus' father has decided that Proteus should travel to
Milan and join Valentine. He orders that Proteus must leave the next
day, prompting a tearful farewell with Julia, to whom Proteus swears
eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to
return as soon as he can.
In Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with the Duke's daughter,
Silvia. Despite being in love with Julia, Proteus falls instantly in
love with Silvia and vows to win her. Unaware of Proteus' feelings,
Valentine tells him the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish
but wealthy Thurio, against her wishes. Because the Duke suspects that
his daughter and Valentine are in love, he locks her nightly in a tower,
to which he keeps the only key. However, Valentine tells Proteus that
he plans to free her by means of a corded ladder, and together, they
will elope. Proteus immediately informs the Duke, who subsequently
captures and banishes Valentine. While wandering outside Milan, Valentine runs afoul of a band of outlaws,
who claim they are also exiled gentlemen. Valentine lies, saying he was
banished for killing a man in a fair fight, and the outlaws elect him
their leader.
Meanwhile, in Verona, Julia decides to join her lover in Milan. She
convinces Lucetta to dress her in boy's clothes and help her fix her
hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Once in Milan, Julia
quickly discovers Proteus' love for Silvia, watching him attempt to
serenade her. She contrives to become his page boy
– Sebastian – until she can decide upon a course of action. Proteus
sends Sebastian to Silvia with a gift of the same ring that Julia gave
to him before he left Verona, but Julia learns that Silvia scorns
Proteus' affections and is disgusted that he would forget about his love
back home, i.e. Julia herself. Silvia deeply mourns the loss of
Valentine, who Proteus has told her is rumoured dead.
Not persuaded of Valentine's death, Silvia determines to flee the
city with the help of Sir Eglamour. They escape into the forest but when
they are confronted by the outlaws, Eglamour flees and Silvia is taken
captive. The outlaws head to their leader (Valentine), but on the way,
they encounter Proteus and Julia (still disguised as Sebastian). Proteus
rescues Silvia, and then pursues her deeper into the forest. Secretly
observed by Valentine, Proteus attempts to persuade Silvia that he loves
her, but she rejects his advances.
Proteus insinuates that he will rape her ("I'll force thee yield to
my desire"), but at this point, Valentine intervenes and denounces
Proteus. Horrified at what has happened, Proteus vows that the hate
Valentine feels for him is nothing compared to the hate he feels for
himself. Convinced that Proteus' repentance
is genuine, Valentine forgives him and seems to offer Silvia to him. At
this point, overwhelmed, Julia faints, revealing her true identity.
Upon seeing her, Proteus suddenly remembers his love for her and vows
fidelity to her once again. The Duke and Thurio are brought as prisoners
by the outlaws. Seeing Silvia, Thurio claims her as his, but Valentine
warns Thurio that if he makes one move toward her, he will kill him.
Terrified, Thurio renounces Silvia. The Duke, disgusted with Thurio's
cowardice and impressed by Valentine's actions, approves his and
Silvia's love, and consents to their marriage. The two couples are
happily united, and the Duke pardons the outlaws, telling them they may
return to Milan
Link to review by The Morning Call here
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. Originally published in the First Folio
of 1623, where it was listed as a comedy, the play's first recorded
performance occurred in 1604. The play's main themes include justice,
"mortality and mercy in Vienna," and the dichotomy between corruption
and purity: "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." Mercy and
virtue predominate, since the play does not end tragically.
Measure for Measure is often called one of Shakespeare's problem plays. It was, and continues to be, classified as comedy, though its tone may defy those expectations.
Synopsis:
Vincentio, the Duke of Vienna,
makes it known that he intends to leave the city on a diplomatic
mission. He leaves the government in the hands of a strict judge, Angelo.
In the next scene, we find a group of soldiers on a Vienna street,
expressing their hopes, in irreverent banter, that a war with Hungary is
afoot, and that they will be able to take part. Mistress Overdone, the
operator of a whorehouse frequented by these same soldiers, appears and
tells them "there's one yonder arrested and carried to prison was worth
five thousand of you all." She tells them that it is "Signor Claudio,"
and that "within these three days his head to be chopped off" as
punishment for "getting Madam Julietta with child." Lucio, one of the
soldiers who is later revealed to be Claudio's friend, is astonished at
this news and rushes off. Then comes Pompey Bum, who works for Mistress
Overdone as a pimp, but disguises his profession by describing himself
as a mere 'tapster' (the equivalent of a modern bartender), avers to the
imprisonment of Claudio and outrageously explains his crime as "Groping
for trouts in a peculiar river." He then informs Mistress Overdone of
Angelo's new proclamation, that "All houses [of prostitution] in the
suburbs of Vienna must be plucked down." The brothels in the city "shall
stand for seed: they had gone down too, but that a wise burgher put in
for them." Mistress Overdone is distraught, as her business is in the
suburbs. "What shall become of me?" she asks. Pompey replies with a
characteristic mixture of bawdy humor and folk-wisdom, "fear you not:
good counselors lack no clients: though you change your place, you need
not change your trade... Courage! there will be pity taken on you: you
that have worn your eyes almost out in the service, you will be
considered."
Claudio is then led past Pompey and Overdone on his way to prison,
and we learn what has happened to him. Claudio married Juliet, but, as
they have not completed all the technicalities, they are still legally
unmarried when Juliet gets pregnant. Angelo, as the interim ruler of the
city, decides to enforce a law that fornication is punishable by death,
so Claudio is sentenced to be executed. Claudio's friend, Lucio, visits
Claudio's sister, Isabella, a novice nun, and asks her to intercede
with Angelo on Claudio's behalf.
Isabella obtains an audience with Angelo, and pleads for mercy for
Claudio. Over the course of two scenes between Angelo and Isabella, it
becomes clear that he lusts after her, and he eventually offers her a
deal: Angelo will spare Claudio's life if Isabella yields him her
virginity. Isabella refuses, but when she threatens to publicly expose
his lechery, he tells her that no one will believe her: his reputation
is too austere. Instead, she visits her brother in prison and counsels
him to prepare himself for death. Claudio desperately begs Isabella to
save his life, but Isabella refuses. As a novice nun, she feels that she
cannot sacrifice her own immortal soul (and that of Claudio, if he
causes her to lose her virtue) to save Claudio's transient earthly life.
The Duke has not in fact left the city, but remains there disguised
as a friar (Lodowick) in order to spy on the city's affairs, and
especially on the actions of Angelo. In his guise as a friar, he
befriends Isabella and arranges two tricks to thwart Angelo's evil
intentions:
- First, a "bed trick" is arranged. Angelo has previously refused to fulfill the betrothal
binding him to Mariana, because her dowry had been lost at sea.
Isabella sends word to Angelo that she has decided to submit to him,
making it a condition of their meeting that it occurs in perfect
darkness and in silence. Mariana agrees to take Isabella's place, and
she has sex with Angelo, although he continues to believe he has enjoyed
Isabella. (In some interpretations of the law, this constitutes
consummation of their betrothal, and therefore their marriage. This is
the same interpretation that assumes that Claudio and Juliet are legally
married.)
- After having sex with Mariana (whom he believes is Isabella), Angelo
goes back on his word, sending a message to the prison that he wishes
to see Claudio's head, necessitating the "head trick." The Duke first
attempts to arrange the execution of another prisoner whose head can be
sent instead of Claudio's. However, the villain Barnardine refuses to be
executed in his drunken state. As luck would have it, a pirate named
Ragozine, of similar appearance to Claudio, has recently died of a
fever, so his head is sent to Angelo instead.
This main plot concludes with the 'return' to Vienna of the Duke as
himself. Isabella and Mariana publicly petition him, and he hears their
claims against Angelo,
which Angelo smoothly denies. As the scene develops, it appears that
Friar Lodowick will be blamed for the 'false' accusations leveled
against Angelo. The Duke leaves Angelo to judge the cause against
Lodowick, but returns in disguise moments later when Lodowick is
summoned. Eventually, the friar reveals himself to be the Duke, thereby
exposing Angelo as a liar and Isabella and Mariana as truthful. He
proposes that Angelo be executed but first compels him to marry Mariana—
with his estate going to Mariana as her new dowry, "to buy you a better
husband." Mariana pleads for Angelo's life, even enlisting the aid of
Isabella (who is not yet aware her brother Claudio is still living). The
Duke pretends not to heed the women's petition, and—only after
revealing that Claudio has not, in fact, been executed—relents. The Duke
then proposes marriage to Isabella. Isabella does not reply, and her
reaction is interpreted differently in different productions: her silent
acceptance of his proposal is the most common in performance. This is
one of the "open silences" of the play.
A sub-plot concerns Claudio's friend Lucio, who frequently slanders
the duke to the friar, and in the last act slanders the friar to the
duke, providing opportunities for comic consternation on Vincentio's
part and landing Lucio in trouble when it is revealed that the duke and
the friar are one and the same. His punishment, like Angelo's, is to be
forced into an undesired marriage: in this case with the prostitute Kate
Keepdown.
Link to the review by The Morning Call here
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre
in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain
fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations. Working
within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major
themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious
as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways.
Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, though some were
cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others
foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's
artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped
make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.
The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas
was Wilde's lover, planned to present the writer with a bouquet of
rotten vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off and
Queensberry was refused admission. Soon afterwards their feud came to a
climax in court, where Wilde's homosexual double life was revealed to
the Victorian public and he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment.
His notoriety caused the play, despite its early success, to be closed
after 86 performances. After his release, he published the play from
exile in Paris, but he wrote no further comic or dramatic work.
The Importance of Being Earnest has been revived many times since its premiere. It has been adapted for the cinema on three occasions. In The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Dame Edith Evans reprised her celebrated interpretation of Lady Bracknell; The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) by Kurt Baker used an all-black cast; and Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) incorporated some of Wilde's original material cut during the preparation of the original stage production.
Synopsis:
Act I
- Algernon Moncrieff's flat in Half Moon Street, W
The play opens with Algernon Moncrieff, an idle young gentleman,
receiving his best friend, John Worthing, whom he knows as Ernest.
Ernest has come from the country to propose to Algernon's cousin,
Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon, however, refuses his consent until Ernest
explains why his cigarette case bears the inscription, "From little
Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack." 'Ernest' is
forced to admit to living a double life. In the country, he assumes a
serious attitude for the benefit of his young ward, the heiress
Cecily Cardew, and goes by the name of John (or, as a nickname, Jack),
while pretending that he must worry about a wastrel younger brother
named Ernest in London. In the city, meanwhile, he assumes the identity
of the libertine
Ernest. Algernon confesses a similar deception: he pretends to have an
invalid friend named Bunbury in the country, whom he can "visit"
whenever he wishes to avoid an unwelcome social obligation. Jack refuses
to tell Algernon the location of his country estate.
Gwendolen and her formidable mother Lady Bracknell now call on
Algernon who distracts Lady Bracknell in another room while Jack
proposes to Gwendolen. She accepts, but seems to love him very largely
for his professed name of Ernest. Jack accordingly resolves to himself
to be rechristened "Ernest". Discovering them in this intimate exchange,
Lady Bracknell interviews Jack as a prospective suitor. Horrified to
learn that he was adopted after being discovered as a baby in a handbag
at Victoria Station, she refuses him and forbids further contact with
her daughter.
Gwendolen, though, manages covertly to promise to him her
undying love. As Jack gives her his address in the country, Algernon
surreptitiously notes it on the cuff of his sleeve: Jack's revelation of
his pretty and wealthy young ward has motivated his friend to meet her.
Act II
- The Garden of the Manor House, Woolton
-
Cecily is studying with her governess,
Miss Prism. Algernon arrives, pretending to be Ernest Worthing, and
soon charms Cecily. Long fascinated by Uncle Jack's hitherto absent black sheep
brother, she is predisposed to fall for Algernon in his role of Ernest
(a name she, like Gwendolen, is apparently particularly fond of).
Therefore, Algernon, too, plans for the rector, Dr. Chasuble, to rechristen him "Ernest".
Jack, meanwhile, has decided to abandon his double life. He arrives
in full mourning and announces his brother's death in Paris of a severe
chill, a story undermined by Algernon's presence in the guise of Ernest.
Gwendolen now enters, having run away from home. During the temporary
absence of the two men, she meets Cecily, each woman indignantly
declaring that she is the one engaged to "Ernest". When Jack and
Algernon reappear, their deceptions are exposed.
Act III
- Morning-Room at the Manor House, Woolton
Arriving in pursuit of her daughter, Lady Bracknell is astonished to
be told that Algernon and Cecily are engaged. The revelation of Cecily's
trust fund soon dispels Lady Bracknell's initial doubts over the young lady's suitability, but any engagement is forbidden by her guardian Jack: he will consent only if Lady Bracknell agrees to his own union with Gwendolen—something she declines to do.
The impasse is broken by the return of Miss Prism, whom Lady
Bracknell recognises as the person who, twenty-eight years earlier, as a
family nursemaid, had taken a baby boy for a walk in a perambulator
(baby carriage) and never returned. Challenged, Miss Prism explains that
she had absentmindedly put the manuscript of a novel she was writing in
the perambulator, and the baby in a handbag, which she had left at
Victoria Station. Jack produces the very same handbag, showing that he
is the lost baby, the elder son of Lady Bracknell's late sister, and
thus indeed Algernon's elder brother. Having acquired such respectable
relations, he is acceptable as a suitor for Gwendolen after all.
Gwendolen, though, still insists that she can only love a man named
Ernest. What is her fiancé's real first name? Lady Bracknell informs
Jack that, as the first-born, he would have been named after his father,
General Moncrieff. Jack examines the army lists and discovers that his
father's name—and hence his own real name—was in fact Ernest. Pretence
was reality all along. As the happy couples embrace—Jack and Gwendolen,
Algernon and Cecily, and even Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism—Lady Bracknell
complains to her newfound relative: "My nephew, you seem to be
displaying signs of triviality." "On the contrary, Aunt Augusta", he
replies, "I've now realised for the first time in my life the vital
importance of being Earnest."
- Link to the review by The Morning Call here
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedic play by William Shakespeare
thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was
approaching the middle of his career. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623. Much Ado About Nothing
is generally considered one of Shakespeare's best comedies because it
combines elements of mistaken identities, love, robust hilarity with
more serious meditations on honour, shame, and court politics.
By means of "noting" (which, in Shakespeare's day, sounded similar to "nothing" as in the play's title,and which means gossip, rumour, and overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice
are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is
tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar on the erroneous belief that
she has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces
to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the
marriages of the two couples.
At Messina, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro, a prince from Aragon, will return that night from a successful battle, Claudio being among his soldiers. Beatrice, Leonato's
niece, asks the messenger about Benedick and makes sarcastic remarks
about his ineptitude as a soldier. Leonato explains that "There is a
kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her."
Upon the arrival of the soldiers, Leonato welcomes Don Pedro and
invites him to stay for a month, Benedick and Beatrice resume their
"merry war," and Pedro's illegitimate brother Don John is introduced.
Claudio's feelings for Hero, Leonato's only daughter, are rekindled upon
seeing her, and Claudio soon announces to Benedick his intention to
court her. Benedick, who openly despises marriage, tries to dissuade his
friend but Don Pedro encourages the marriage. Benedick swears that he
will never get married. Don Pedro laughs at him and tells him that when
he has found the right person he shall get married.
A masquerade ball is planned in celebration of the end of the war, giving a disguised Don Pedro the opportunity to woo
Hero on Claudio's behalf. Don John uses this situation to get revenge
on his brother Don Pedro by telling young Claudio that Don Pedro is
wooing Hero for himself. A furious Claudio confronts Don Pedro, but the
misunderstanding is quickly resolved and Claudio wins Hero's hand in
marriage.
Meanwhile, Benedick disguises himself and dances with Beatrice. Beatrice proceeds to tell this "mystery man" that Benedick
is "the prince's jester, a very dull fool." Benedick, enraged by her
words, swears he will have revenge. Don Pedro and his men, bored at the
prospect of waiting a week for the wedding, harbour a plan to match-make
between Benedick and Beatrice. They arrange for Benedick to overhear a
conversation in which they declare that Beatrice is madly in love with
him but afraid to tell him; that their pride is the main impediment to
their courtship. Meanwhile, Hero and her maid Ursula ensure Beatrice
overhears them discuss Benedick's undying love for her. The tricks have
the desired effect: both Benedick and Beatrice are delighted to think
they are the object of unrequited love, and both accordingly resolve to mend their faults and reconcile.
Meanwhile, Don Pedro's brother Don John, the "bastard prince", plots
to prevent the wedding, embarrass his brother and wreak misery on
Leonato and Claudio. He informs Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is
unfaithful, and arranges for them to see John's associate Borachio enter
her bedchamber where he has an amorous liaison (actually with Margaret,
Hero's chambermaid). Claudio and Don Pedro are taken in, and Claudio
vows to humiliate Hero publicly.
At the wedding the next day, Claudio denounces Hero before the
stunned guests and storms off with Don Pedro. Hero faints. Her
humiliated father Leonato expresses the wish that she would die. The
presiding friar intervenes, believing Hero to be innocent. He suggests
the family fake Hero's death in order to extract the truth and Claudio's
remorse. Prompted by the day's harrowing events, Benedick and Beatrice
confess their love for each other. Beatrice then asks Benedick to slay
Claudio as proof of his devotion, since he has slandered her kinswoman.
Benedick is horrified and at first, denies her request. Leonato and his
brother Antonio blame Claudio for Hero's apparent death and challenge
him to a duel. Benedick then does the same.
Luckily, on the night of Don John's treachery, the local Watch
apprehended Borachio and his ally Conrade. Despite the comic ineptness
of the Watch (headed by constable Dogberry, a master of malapropisms),
they have overheard the duo discussing their evil plans. The Watch
arrest the villains and eventually obtain a confession, informing
Leonato of Hero's innocence. Though Don John has fled the city, a force
is sent to capture him. Claudio, stricken with remorse at Hero's
supposed death, agrees to her father's demand that he marry Antonio's
daughter, "almost the copy of my child that's dead" and carry on the family name.
At the wedding, the bride is revealed to be Hero, still living.
Claudio is overjoyed. Beatrice and Benedick, prompted by their friends'
interference, finally and publicly confess their love for each other. As
the play draws to a close, a messenger arrives with news of Don John's
capture – but Benedick proposes to postpone his punishment to another
day so that the couples can enjoy their new-found happiness. Don Pedro
is lonely because he hasn't found love. Thus Benedick gives him the
advice "Get thee a wife."
Link to the review by The Morning Call here
