Shakespeare returned to the campus last week with a brilliant performance by Central students.

The show, “Much Ado About Nothing,” was performed in Maloney Hall’s Blackbox Theatre from Oct. 9-13. The play is one of Shakespeare’s comedies and follows the romantic misadventures of four people. It explores how romantic relationships can develop, how people will attempt to manipulate the relationships and how that can be overcome.

The production for the show had a more modern twist compared to the time period that it was originally took place in. Set in the Hollywood Hills during the year 2000, the show employs a Y2K aesthetic that is upbeat and eye-catching. It makes the show feel reminiscent of modernized Shakespeare movie adaptations like “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Romeo + Juliet.” This gave the show a very engaging and nostalgic vibe.

In the play, a group of boy banders arrive in Messina: Don Pedro, Claudio, and Benedick. Claudio soon falls in love with Hero, daughter of governor Leonata while Benedick banters with her niece Beatrice. Don Pedro offers to help set up Claudio and Hero, which his illegitimate brother Don John vows to sabotage.

After Claudio and Hero’s marriage is arranged, Benedick and Beatrice’s friends and relatives conspire to set them up together as well, as both have vowed not to marry and yet enjoy sniping with each other. What follows is a hilarious sequence of Beatrice and Benedick overhearing how one another supposedly are in love with them. They both decide to confess love to each other.

Don John enacts a dastardly plan to trick Claudio that Hero is unfaithful towards him and he calls off the wedding. After a constable catches Don John’s co-conspirator, Benedick comes up with a plan with Leonata to repair the situation in exchange for Beatrice’s hand in marriage. Claudio is given proof that he was wrong and happily marries Hero. Benedick and Beatrice banter and confess their love, drawing the story to a close.

The performances were fantastic to behold. Often times, it can be difficult to understand Shakespeare’s works when just reading them. Seeing them onstage breathes life into the characters and dialogue to make it more engaging. The actors did great at making the play enjoyable through their physicality and line reading.

Even though this play is labeled as a comedy, I hadn’t expected it to be so funny. A lot of the humor came from how the characters interacted with each other. Benedick and Beatrice’s interactions were especially funny with how they would playfully snipe at each other. Their actors, Ethan Roy and Brooke Hendon respectively, had great chemistry with each other and the rest of the cast to make the show a delight to watch.

The use of era music and dance numbers were also a welcome surprise. This made the 90s to aughts aesthetic really pop and the setting more in-depth. The final dance number celebrating the characters’ marriages led into the cast bows, which was very clever.

Everyone involved in the play did a fantastic job at bringing the play to life. Seeing it set in a less distant time period than it was originally set makes it more palatable than simply reading it. The actors all look like they had a blast performing and giving the audience a great show and they enjoyed it in turn.

Blackbox Theatre’s next performance will be “The Revolutionists” from Dec. 4-8.