Deep into its inaugural season, the fledgling Henley Street Theatre -- named for the childhood home of William Shakespeare -- selected for its third production a classic Shakespearean comedy. The opening was marked by confidence and not a little daring.

It's not original or even unusual to remove the "fourth wall," that invisible boundary that separates audience from performer. Some people just don't want to get that close to the action, but in "Much Ado About Nothing," there's no avoiding the actors who sit in the empty seat next to you, or crawl under your chair, or even sit in your lap.

The house lights were left on, and the actors were dressed in contemporary casual attire, pretty much eliminating the audience's security blanket and the final barrier between the stage and the rest of the house.

Alex Previtera, the company's artistic director who took on the role of Don Pedro, assured the audience that "Much Ado" would be easy to understand, yet the company maintained the bard's often outlandish language.

As is often the case, those in minor roles can make or break a production. Dean Knight, in the role of Master Constable Dogberry, interpreted his part with broad strokes resulting in a law-enforcement officer who made Mayberry's Barney Fife appear to be gifted. His partner, the lanky Gordon Jenkins, who mirrored his every step -- often getting stepped on in the process -- was equally adept.

"Much Ado" is a tale of two pairs of lovers, and it is interesting that the very qualities that epitomize the virtue of Kerry McGee's leading lady, Hero (yes, that's her name), also made her character decidedly flatter and less interesting than that of her cousin Beatrice, played by Suzanne Ankrum. Ankrum's character is a feminist -- or a womanist -- decades if not centuries ahead of her time, and Ankrum's expressive face and vibrant personality leave a stronger and deeper impression.

As for the men, Billy Finn makes his character, the bachelor Benedick, predictable and realistic while the irreverent and often intoxicated Borachio (Michael Sater) provides broad physical comic relief.

The Henley Street Theatre cast worked well as an ensemble, although there were apparent uneven levels of comfort with this up-close, theatre-in-the-round format -- on the part of the cast as well as the audience, some of whom were drafted into the plot -- and the first act seemed overly long.

"Much Ado" lovingly reiterates the fact that the conventions of language, love, war, society and politics may change, but basic needs and motives remain the same.