A brilliant new production of “Much Ado About Nothing” opened at the Delcorte Theater in Central Park this week starring Hamish Linklater and Beatrice Rabe.  Along with  John Glover, Paco Lozano,  David Manis, Kathryn Meisle, Ismenia Mendes, Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Pankow and Pedro Pascal they light up the summer night as Beatrice and Benedick treat each other with mocking disdain that transforms into true love by plays end.

Central Park becomes sun-drenched Sicily at the turn of the last century, where the heat of summer ignites the fevered passions of lovesick ladies in corsets and pining gentlemen spying from the verandah. Three-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien directs this delightful skirmish of wit between two self-declared bachelors tricked by their mischief-making friends into falling in love against their will and in spite of their own hearts.  John Lee Beatty’s orchard-estate set frames Belvedere Castle as a skyline for the Italian city, while Jeff Croiter’s lighting takes us from day to dreamy night.