After watching the Asolo Repertory Theatre’s premiere of Lauren M. Gunderson’s “Lady Disdain,” a clever but confusing twist on Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing,” I’m not sure which play I should be reviewing. 

Is it the bullet train of a first act that rushes by with such high speed energy that it’s difficult to take in the story about battling former lovers finally discovering the feelings they never allowed themselves to acknowledge? Or is it the more tender and quieter second act, in which a young actress, on the cusp of a big career breakthrough is publicly humiliated by a former boyfriend and takes a stand for women everywhere?

Both are part of Gunderson’s often sharp-witted play that doesn’t naturally coalesce in the Asolo Rep production staged by Sean Daniels. Aside from featuring the same characters, the two acts come off as different plays.

Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in the United States at the moment, and audiences clearly enjoy her facile way with storytelling, modern twists on classics and wholly original pieces like the brilliant “Silent Sky” that Asolo Rep staged three years ago.

You don’t have to know a thing about “Much Ado About Nothing” and the romantic battle of words between Beatrice and Benedick to follow Gunderson’s contemporary version with two actors named Beatrice and Ben. Those who do know the Shakespeare play will have an extra level of appreciation of how she brings that story into an audio book recording studio.

Daniels has staged the play at such a breakneck speed, at least in the first act, that it’s hard to connect with the main characters, who are rival audio book actors brought together by some conniving colleagues to give voice to a popular romantic fiction book. The co-workers know that Bea and Ben are meant to be together despite several failed attempts in the past. The actors initially consider the book trashy and see it as beneath their status as trained actors, but they get drawn into the characters, which brings the couple closer together.

Veronika Duerr as Beatrice comes on so strong and shrill from her first appearance that it takes a long while to see the humanity and potential warmth that might have once been attractive to the more down-to-earth Casey Murphy as Ben. He plays an actor who enjoyed many years of success playing a villain on a hit TV show, stirring some jealousy in Beatrice. Even when they begin to acknowledge their renewed feelings, it’s not clear if it’s just lust or actual romance.

The studio manager Pedro (played by Michael Flood), his engineer Claudio (a charming Ben Clark) and the young actress Hannah (Sophia Alawi) plot to encourage Beatrice and Ben to get closer, including a Halloween costume party that feels forced.

Once Ben and Bea are together, Gunderson shifts focus in the second half to the more interesting coupling of Claudio, a recovering alcoholic, and Hannah, who is navigating the challenges of a big break in her career. The tone is warmer and the pace is gentler. And it’s a delight to watch Clark and Alawi whenever they’re together. Flood is sometimes difficult to understand, particularly in the fast pace of the first act, and his character’s motivations don’t always make sense. In one moment he seems to care only about money, and the next about the actors.

Brett Ashley Robinson makes an impression as Alice, the author of the book being adapted into audio, and a series of other romantasies that have become wildly popular. She bonds with Beatrice and Hannah over the nature of her storytelling, the steamy aspects and the heart behind it all.

The play is staged on an attractive set by Lawrence E. Moten III that includes a sound booth, recording areas, and a second story loft that represents various apartments or private homes. It is lit by Brian J. Lilienthal with a series of rectangular panels and short strips of light that flash on and off in neon colors between scenes in ways that seem to suggest a meaning that isn’t evident. Nicole Jescinth Smith’s costumes are playful and suit the characters.

Gunderson takes a smart approach to bringing the Shakespeare classic into the modern age, focusing on the idea of enemies-to-lovers, a common theme in rom-coms of all kinds over the years. But it can feel like you’re watching a screwball comedy without the screwball part to hold it together.

‘Lady Disdain’ by Lauren M. Gunderson. Directed by Sean Daniels. Reviewed June 12 at Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Through June 27. Tickets are $35-$97. asolorep.org; 941-351-8000