The cast of Folger’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Does director Timothy Douglas’s choice to set Folger’s production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing during the D.C. Caribbean Carnival feel arbitrary? Sure. Does it matter? Not entirely.

The setting, while not really transforming this production of the classic tale of bickering lovers into something new, awards a carefree, colorful spirit to the proceedings. The closing wedding scene is visually brought to life with bright, feathered head pieces. Infectious music (overseen by Craig Wallace’s master of ceremonies-like D.J.) punctuates scenes, and the atmosphere is festive and congenial – even when the play is at its darkest, as the young Hero is falsely accused of being unfaithful due to the comically sinister John the Bastard’s machinations, there’s still an undercurrent that everything’s going to work out eventually.