When’s the last time you simply just had fun at the
theater? Unpretentious,
unadulterated fun? Those are the
operative words that come to mind to describe the semi-musical, These! Paper! Bullets! at the Yale Repertory
Theatre through April 5th.
The show, described as “a modish ripoff of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing,” transforms the
Italian city of Messina to 1964 London where a band, The Quarto, a rock group
unabashedly modeled after the Beatles, is all the rage. Add to this scenario a few original
songs by Billie Joe Armstrong, front man for the punk rock group, Green Day, and
you have an entertaining, if not always compelling, retooling of one of
Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies.
As adapted by the playwright Rolin Jones, a Pulitzer Prize
finalist and television writer, the mash-up between Much Ado About Nothing and These!
Paper! Bullets! syncs up well.
Whereas in the Shakespearean play Claudio and Hero meet and fall madly
in love with each other, in These! Paper!
Bullets! Claude, one of The Quarto’s, meets Higgy, a beautiful model, at a
party and the two instantly connect.
In Much Ado, the soon-to-be
wedded couple and their friends, to pass the time, plot to have the constantly
bickering Benedick and Beatrice to cease their verbal sparrings and histrionics
and finally fall in love with each other.
In the contemporary update there is Ben, the leader of The Quarto, witty
and slightly obnoxious who quarrels and matches wits with the well-known fashion
designer Bea, cousin to Higgy.
And, finally, the vengeful Don John character from the Shakespeare play
is present in the spiteful and scheming Don Best, the Quarto’s former drummer
(yes, a not-so-subtle nod to The Beatles first drummer, Pete Best, who was
unceremoniously ousted from the Fab Four to make way for Ringo) who wants to
destroy the happiness of Claude and Higgy by concocting a lurid sex scandal to
be unveiled at the wedding ceremony.
As with the source material, after some twists and turns, happiness and
good cheer prevail by the show’s end.
These! Paper! Bullets!, while a great idea is only a
serviceable reshaping of the Bard’s work, coming across as a bit muddled in the
beginning, but after settling in midway through the first act the production
gathers steam and becomes a more breezy bit of fare. The cast, led by David Wilson Barnes as Ben, Bryan Fenkart
as Claude, Jeaninie Serralles as Bea, and Ariana Venturi as Higgy is uniformly
fine. Their presentation of
Shakespearean type dialogue is more jaunty then proper, but works for the
conceit of the show. The other Quarto
members, James Barry as Pedro (he’s George) and Lucas Papaelias as Baith (he’s
Ringo), are fun-loving and animated. Andrew Musselman as an ill-mannered and crass tabloid
journalist, Adam O’Byrne as Don West, the vengeful former band mate, and the
men of Scotland Yard, especially, Greg Stuhr as a bumbling and dimwitted
inspector add some extra zest to the production.
One of the most exciting aspects of the show are a few
original songs penned by Billie Joe Armstrong. They are Beatles-esque, tuneful, and a rousing good
time. Armstrong, during the
Broadway production of his group’s, American
Idiot, was quoted as saying he wanted to write more for the stage. Let’s hope, either in further
renditions of this show, or in future endeavors, the Green Day leader continues
composing.
Director Jackson Gay keeps the good-natured humor
flowing. Occasionally, the large
cast is somewhat disorganized on stage and the pacing of the production can ebb
and flow. Gay makes good use of
rear screen projections to bolster the excitement The Quartos generate. He also incorporates hand held, closed
circuit cameras to enhance the immediacy of the moment and that playfully
involve the audience.
These! Paper! Bullets!, for those who need both their
Beatles and Shakespeare fix, at Yale Repertory through April 5th.
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