Review: 'Much Ado' about little that's funny or clever

Social commentary and satire can be among the most effective forms of comedy — using the power of humor to make pointed observations palatable.

In "Much Ado about Naples," the newest Rick Compton and Betsy Bennett production at the Norris Community Center Theater, the show's creators set out to lampoon the rampant development in our area amid the maze of tangled bureaucracy.

Yet the production disappoints on a number of levels.

The onionskin-thin plot hangs on the black-and-white polarity of good vs. evil: soulless developer Jack Raykitinagain (sound it out) wants to leave Naples with "no green space anywhere, no trees —only condominiums."

His projects include the creation of luxury housing for the well-to-do on the property bordering Caribbean Gardens — and anywhere else he can fit it, including "very narrow" condos on the landscape medians along Highway 41.

Along the way, he has to win over the Eminents of Domain, the omnipotent, unseen power that capriciously decrees whether residents may continue to own their own homes; he must displace creatures like the poor, hangdog turtle, played by Rick Compton; and he woos and wins the trophy wife who is protesting his Pelican Park project by Botoxing herself into paralysis.

The play is ostensibly an homage to Shakespeare, though the conceit seems to have little to do with borrowing from the Bard, but rather to exist primarily for clever puns to title each scene: "The Taming of the Zoo," The Merchant of Tennis," "The Trophy Wives of Windsor."

While there are clever lines — "New developments never occur in a vacuum, although some of them do suck," opines one letter to the editor within the show — the play's humor relies far too heavily on scatological puns. Like the character named King Bitchard, or the "Toilets and Cressida" segment, which seem to elicit from the audience chuckles not only of recognition, but of discomfort.

And it treads little new ground in the way of a send-up, instead presenting clichés like the touched-up noses, lipo'ed bodies, and midnight-dark roots of the typical Naples trophy wife — a plot device that seems to exist for no other purpose than those jokes, since it has little to do with the events occurring either onstage or in current headlines.

The production is further hindered by its music, a mostly forgettable arrangement of generic tunes.

Though there are exceptions. As Raykitinagain, Mark McClellan does a bang-up job of selling the splashy production number "The Goodness of Greed," and he and Compton are utterly hilarious in the Jewish rap song, "Two Gentlemen of Verona Walk," shaking their walking sticks in the air in a fine and funny Yiddish/hip-hop fusion.

But "Much Ado" falls victim to a number of pitfalls in a show of this nature. Too many of the jokes are funny only to Neapolitans plugged into current issues, leaving "outsiders" literally outside the jokes, and relying too heavily on an "oh, yeah" audience reaction rather than true original humor.

The cast members sell the show with all they've got, and their wholehearted commitment is laudable — particularly Erin Laughlin in the stereotyped and superfluous role of the trophy wife, and some well-tuned moments by McClellan.

But tongues are often too self-congratulatorily in cheek, giving many scenes an off-putting "Aren't we clever?" feel. And though the four-man live musical accompaniment is a welcome addition, some of the other production values lend an overly amateurish feel to the show — mike distortion, long pauses between scenes, and a tossed-together set that includes an unidentifiable pile of painted boxes that reveal their purpose only at show's end — when a wrecking ball plows through them.

The longtime collaboration of Compton and Bennett has yielded a number of works with local spins — "How to Succeed in Naples without Really Trying," "The History of Collier County According to Us" — and a loyal regional following that generated a full house Friday night at the Norris Center.

Fans at their Naples-centric revues will likely enjoy this addition to their oeuvre, but for those not already in the club, "Much Ado about Naples" might just be a bit much.