MIchael Doherty and Andrew Lawton Photo by Mikki Schaffner

Cincy Shakes supported a production of this script a year ago in the Philadelphia Fringe which featured a cast of actors from Cincinnati and Philadelphia. That production, now further refined and outfitted with an adaptable set (designed by Samantha Reno), is onstage at the company's Otto M. Budig Theatre. Once it closes here it will be packed up and shipped to Scotland for a month-long run in the legendary Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Matthew Decker, who staged the popular Philadelphia production, continues as its director.

Doherty and Mobley were inspired to write the script while playing Dogberry and Verges in a Milwaukee production of Much Ado several years ago. Although Cincy Shakes' program lists a Philadelphia actor in the role of Dogberry, an insert indicates that playwright Doherty, an experienced performer, has ably stepped into the role. He is partnered with the versatile and animated Anthony Lawton, who originated the role in Philadelphia and will continue as the show moves to Scotland. Together they are the comic engine that fuels this production.

Doherty and Lawton open the 80-minute production with about seven minutes of virtually unspoken action that sets the tone. They struggle to decipher a floridly written message instructing them to undertake their duties as the leaders of the Watch, intended to ensure order in Messina as a wedding is about to commence and disruption seems possible. After Verges silently grimaces and frowns over the text, we learn he cannot read. Dogberry takes a swing at it, but his ability to understand it is seriously impaired by his pompous malapropisms, words he constantly misuses: "He's the very pineapple of politeness," when he means "pinnacle," for example. Verges ramps up matters with a silly, contorted physical misinterpretation of the word "gallimaufry."

Matters devolve from foolish to confusion when the pair assemble an inept, inexperienced Watch. Three Cincy Shakes regulars–Jeremy Dubin, Courtney Lucien and Elizabeth Chinn Molloy–plus New York veteran Sami Ma play various roles from Much Ado About Nothing, necessitating rapid costume and character changes. They are also backup dancers in a series of scene transitions, choreographed by Jenn Rose, with upbeat music. (These insertions seem extraneous and add time to a production that could be improved without these interruptions. Perhaps they will be trimmed when the show is produced in Edinburgh where a 60-minute running time is expected.)

Doherty and Mobley's script is faithful to Shakespeare's tomfoolery, but they have added a dimension that brings some texture to the tale. Much as Tom Stoppard used a pair of minor characters from Hamlet to create a study in existentialism, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, this script employs Shakespeare's comic creations for humorous purposes. Echoes of the Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello are obvious, as well as another more recent pair of fools: Beavis and Butt-Head. Low humor is regularly employed. When Dogberry is repeatedly called "an ass" by a member of the Watch, he erupts–three times–augmented by glowing red lights and bombastic music. (Mike Inwood is the lighting designer; Robert Carlton Stimmel handles sound design.)

Ultimately, a foundation of dependent friendship between Dogberry and Verges emerges. While their initial motivation for undertaking their task is to earn some ducats and escape from Messina, the show ends with them realizing how they need and rely on each another.

Dogberry and Verges Are Scared is a fine piece of summertime entertainment, well-suited to presentation in a fringe festival setting. No fooling. This is a comedy worth seeing, and I suspect it will be well received in Edinburgh.

Dogberry and Verges Are Scared runs through July 25, 2026, at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, 1195 Elm Street, Cincinnati OH. For tickets and information, please visit cincyshakes.com or call 513-381-2273.