Nothing, Nothing

Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Hero Theatre          
Through July 29

It’s difficult to review a social movement.

When it comes to reaching out to underserved communities, the non-profit Hero Theatre is as much a social outreach as it is a theater.

Elisa Bocanegra, the founder and artistic director of this “social and environmental justice theatre company,” is a boots-on-the-ground leader — a Fulbright grantee who’s made grueling trips to Colombia for the purpose of researching environmental justice. Those trips have inspired a planned 10-play cycle to treat the effects of the climate crisis on Latinx communities.  Last year, the company took on another topic, with Rise: An Immersive Exploration of Gun Violence in Schools.

Bocanegra’s present offering, Nothing, Nothing, a commissioned piece by playwright Amina Henry, also has a social outreach component — namely, busing in unhoused women from local shelters to see the show.

In the face of such magnanimity, it feels like the worst sort of nitpicking to find fault with the current production.

However, Nothing, Nothing, which is very loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, is a comedy with errors — some of which could be at least partially addressed with a rewrite by Henry and a few tweaks by Bocanegra, who also directs.

A primary difficulty is one of sheer audibility. That’s possibly due to the fact that the company lost their intended site and had to move to Pasadena’s Friendship Baptist Church, a historical Black church established shortly after the turn of the last century. It’s a serendipitously fitting venue, considering that this is an all-Black cast and the bulk of the action takes place in a Black church.

It was certainly friendly of Friendship Baptist to offer their premises at the last moment, but the new site has obvious limitations: the playing area in front of the altar is makeshift, the lighting is necessarily limited, and the relatively cavernous nave, where the audience is seated, swallows up sound.

That’s particularly problematic when we are expected to overhear a scene of offstage sex play – the catalyst for the subsequent denunciation of the play’s heroine, Hero (Angie Green.) But since we can’t hear the specific interplay, we are left in the dark about what is actually going on, and why.

A rousing gospel number, backed by a live band headed by music director Dre Gipson, opens the proceedings. That opener sets the tone. We are in church, where hell is real and the devout gather to praise the Lord (not to mention dish a little dirt.) Sin is taken very seriously here, so when young Hero takes a vow of chastity in front of the entire congregation, all are thrilled that she is remaining “pure” until marriage.

Not so thrilled is Hero’s worldly cousin Beatrice (Nedra Snipes), who had the audacity to divorce her philandering husband. Pilloried among her fellow churchgoers for not honoring her marriage vows, Beatrice takes the church’s teachings with a grain of salt. She cautions Hero that there’s such a thing as being too naïve.

Anxious to test her sexual compatibility with her intended, Claudio (Joseph Henderson), Hero retreats to a church restroom for a tutorial (hence that confusingly inaudible sex play.) When Claudio’s good friend Benny (Clinton Lowe) overhears their tryst, he assumes that Hero is having sex with another man.

When Benny subsequently denounces Hero to Claudio as a floozy, the enraged Claudio breaks their engagement. Rumors of Hero’s dalliance sweep through the church, to the dismay of Hero’s sanctimonious mother Leona (Stacy Highsmith) and gossipy church ladies, Sister Connie and Sister Betty (Georgina Elizabeth Okon and Tamika Simpkins.) Even beloved pastor Don Juan (Cary Thompson) is not immune to the falsehood.

Even more enraged is Beatrice, who is horrified to learn that Benny is the source of the rumor. Benny and Beatrice have always had a fractious relationship, as evidenced by their caustic interchanges. Yet under all the outward hostility, these two are ripe to fall in love.

Bocanegra’s pacing sometimes lags, making an arguably overlong play seem even longer. As for Henry’s adaptation, perhaps multiple Zumba scenes, in which the women characters gather to work out and share the latest scandal, could have been consolidated to make for a brisker running time.

However, Henry’s underlying feminist message is bracing, while her sly criticism of organized religion’s attitude towards women is particularly timely, especially considering the medium where her message is being delivered.

As for the engaging cast, which includes Shanae Wise in an essential ensemble role, they are ebullient and consistently entertaining. They chew the scenery — or lack of it — with gusto, going way, way over the top in pursuit of laughs — and getting them.

Friendship Baptist Church, 80 W. Dayton St., Pasadena. Fri., 8 pm, Sat., 2:30 pm & 7 pm; thru July 29. www.herotheatre.org. Running time two hours and 15 minutes including an intermission.