In this age of video games, reality TV and oh, Sarah Palin, it’s refreshing to see that a high school drama club still has the gumption to stage Shakespeare.

I’m not in the least bit surprised that it was the talented troupe at Sherburne-Earlville being the latest (and first in a long, long memory) to tackle The Bard. Director Colleen Law-Tefft clearly likes to challenge her young thespians, and the Marauder actors are certainly up to the charge.

This weekend, it’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” my favorite of Mr. Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, perhaps now best known for its title more than anything else.

This is the point in the review at which I normally give a short synopsis of the play. This being Shakespeare, there’s no such thing as a short synopsis. In fact, and helpfully, Law-Tefft has included a full-page rundown of the story and even a flow chart of characters (!) in the “Much Ado” program. Not having read the play since college, this Cliffsnotes version came in mighty handy when I went to see the play Wednesday night.

That’s not to say, though, that Shakespeare isn’t readily accessible to modern audiences. After a few awkward moments in the beginning in which I had no idea what they were saying, that “Shakespeare gene” dormant inside me kicked in and it all came back to me easily.

Though the dialogue in “Much Ado” is rapid-fire olde English, it’s amazingly relatable and funny in the present day, centuries later. That’s the brilliance of Shakespeare, in my humble opinion. Twenty-first century high school kids can make his works every bit as fresh and witty as they were in the 16th century.

Leading the pack here is Emilee Smith as the spitfire Beatrice, who spends much of the play resisting her love for the arrogant Benedick, played by fellow senior Devin Miller. I hope we’re able to keep tabs on Ms. Smith when she graduates from S-E this year; I guarantee this talented young woman is going places. And Mr. Miller, though I haven’t seen him as much on stage, matches his fiery paramour tit for tat.