Guest director Eleanor Holdridge, from Philadelphia, made some novel decisions when putting together Perseverance Theatre's unique production of "Much Ado About Nothing," one of the Bard's most complex comedies.

The central characters, Beatrice and Benedick, sparring partners since childhood with matched acerbic wits, profess total disinterest in romance. The action of the play revolves around getting these two together. The more predictable antics of another couple, Hero and Claudio, are mostly a mechanism by which Benedick and Beatrice's tryst may be created. "Some Cupids kill by arrows, some with traps."

Holdridge chose wisely in casting Sara Waisanen, (Beatrice) who is exceedingly well suited to playing a feisty, deep-feeling wench, against the smooth, clever Brandon Demery (Benedick). More on these, anon.

One of the central conceits of the play is a man's need to choose between life with his comrades in arms versus a domestic life with its attendant sensual if not extravagantly exciting pleasures. The play takes place just after the men return from war, ripe to explore the possibilities of romance, or cause mischief. Festivity is in the air.

The director heightens this carnival feeling with a Mardi Gras flavor: gaudy pastel colors, pretty paper lanterns, palm trees and a soundtrack that features steel drums. There is some terrific choreography by Janice Hurley. The actors perform a variety of line and partner dances complete with bright gauzy costumes, feathered masks and hot Latin music. The women's costumes are reminiscent of fancy 1950s-style prom dresses. The men mostly wear military attire. The look of the play supports the tension between home life and adventures afield.

Shakespeare is brilliant with metaphor. One theme throughout this work is words as food. Words are "eaten" and served with "sauce." A lover, believed to be cuckolded, calls his bride a "rotten orange." When Benedick admits to his unfolding love for Beatrice, he mutters, "Doth not the appetite alter?"

The height of the drama comes when Beatrice utters a demand of her new-found lover, to avenge her wronged cousin, the aforementioned bride, Hero, who is abandoned at the altar. "Kill Claudio," the character says.

With a mere two words, Waisanen conveys her character's depth of passion. With her eyes, her posture and rich connection to the subtext, she tells Benedick, and us in the audience, that she is utterly distraught that her cousin, the noble one, the beautiful one, the innocent one (unlike herself, who had been resigned to the possibility of a life unwed) should be so wronged.

The acting talents of Waisanen and Demery, in particular, warrant at least one viewing of this production. I also enjoyed the original score by Rory Stitt, which captures a full gamut of emotions from raucous merry-making during the party scenes, to the sweet but eerie eulogy at the graveside of the wronged bride, beautifully sung by supporting actress Salissa Cooper.

Other notable players include Jake Waid, Ed Christian, Jesse Alleva, Johanna Evans (Hero), guest artist Levi Ben-Israel (Claudio), Jerry Demmert and Becky Orford.