Shakespeare in the park

"Unconventional Director Sets Shakespeare Play In Time, Place Shakespeare Intended"

"I know when most people hear The Merchant Of Venice, they think 1960s Las Vegas, a high-powered Manhattan stock brokerage, or an 18th-century Georgia slave plantation, but I think it's high time to shake things up a bit," Hiles said. "The great thing about Shakespeare is that the themes in his plays are so universal that they can be adapted to just about any time and place."

From the Onion, June 2, 2007 Issue 43•22

Wednesday night we went to see the St. Louis Shakespeare in the park version of Much Ado about Nothing. It's definitely one of my favorite plays. They did an OK job. However, Beatrice was way over the top. She played Beatrice as "sassy" and loud, but I think of her character as more witty and subtle. Anyway, it was still fun. J.D. and I were worried about the "Western" setting of the play -- Shakespeare in the "Old West"? They even began with accents, but those faded out fairly quickly -- thank goodness.