Written by orange• November 3, 2026• 6:20 pm• Cypress, Cypress College, Uncategorized

William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing @ Cypress College – Review

photo credit: Ryella Zar Photography

Written by Patrick Chavis

Much Ado About Nothing is playing now at Cypress College, October 30-Nov 8, 2026.

Directed by Jennifer McMillin, this production of Much Ado About Nothing is set not in 16th-century Italy, but on a military ranch in 1940s Texas. While the setting has changed and some creative liberties have been taken for texture, it’s still the funny, rumor-laden, will-they/won’t-they play that helped create the blueprint for the modern Rom/Com genre.

Story:

Much Ado About Nothing is a classic tale of two pairs of lovers, Hero (McKenna Matheny) and Claudio (Isaac Song), engaged to be married, but rumor may get in the way. The opposite happens for two stubborn lovers, Benedick (Alec Valverde) and Beatrice (Hemaya Wells), where a rumor might be exactly what brings them together in this silly tale of love and deceit.

The performance featured a few acoustic musical moments throughout. This included a short piece of Fools Rush In by Elvis Presley, performed by Kirsten Normand (Ursula), which didn’t stay within the 1940s time period, but it was performed quite nicely. The show also included a choreographed western dance sequence, with a good portion of the cast taking part. That was a hoot, to be sure!

Yeehaw, Partner.

Costumes/Acting:

The costume choices for the military outfits, western apparel, and leather footwear worked wonders with the theme, though some outfits could have been better tailored.

Hemaya Wells captures Beatrice’s stubbornness toward Benedick, but also one of the play’s harder parts: her frustration and anger with Claudio after the emotional damage he inflicted on her friend Hero. Played delightfully by McKenna Matheny, with a dramatic fall that soaked up the drama – loved it. Besides that, Matheny had such great access to the language and body language throughout the entire show. Incredibly fluid, like water, my friend – no notes.

Solid performance from Alec Valverde as the lead Benedick, especially his asides to the audience, which really let us in on his mindset.

Tomas Canseco most definitely does the part justice as the judgmental but also forgiving Leonato.

Beyond the fun costumes, the jokes added to this new world of Much Ado About Nothing. What stood out most and elevated this performance was how naturally these students spoke the text, in conversation with each other. In live theater, even professional stagings have flubs, and the show must go on. That said, delivery issues were rare, and you could see the work that went into the performances. In some cases, it wasn’t even delivered badly just minor lapses of focus, when an actor is more in their head than on the stage.