A good review not in the cards for ‘Cardenio’

REVIEW. At first glance, “Cardenio” looks so good you might want to leave the American Repertory Theatre and head straight to Umbria. And if you can get out before the show starts, do it.

The stunning Annie Smart set is about as good as it gets in this substance-free re-imagining of Shakespeare’s allegedly lost work. Apparently the Bard penned this tale in 1613, though no script was ever found after the original manuscript was supposedly lost in a fire.

Playwright Charles Mee and Harvard Shakespearean scholar Stephen Greenblatt have endeavored to write a phoenix-like version. The two spent some time in Umbria, (courtesy of a substantial grant), and the result, currently in production at the A.R.T., hardly warrants the time spent crafting the piece.

With ne’er a hint of Shakespeare’s melodic language, nor enough of a plot to keep a 10-year-old interested, “Cardenio” is painfully vacant theater. Even the supremely talented Karen MacDonald can’t make this interesting enough to actually engage in.

After a civil ceremony in New York, new bride Camila (Sarah Baskin) and groom Anselmo (Mickey Solis) retreat to his parents’ place in Umbria for their dream destination wedding. For some unknown reason, his parents aren’t invited. But they show up anyway and force everyone to participate in the staging of a Shakespearean play.

As Anselmo begins to question his new bride’s fidelity, he encourages his best man (Thomas Kelley) to seduce her to see what happens. The plot backfires, new loves emerge and poor Remo Airaldi is forced to deliver a Curly-like monologue in an Elizabethan-style dress.

Three hours after your first look at Umbria, it’s painfully obvious that “Cardenio” should’ve remained ashes. The only thing left to discuss is how to get a grant to drink lots of wine, eat great food and live in Umbria. How hard can it be?

‘Cardenio’
Through June 8
American Repertory Theatre
MBTA: Red line to Harvard
$39-$79, 617-547-8300
www.amrep.org