Much Ado About Nothing

Shakespeare's romantic comedy is indulged to the fullest in this sumptuous and delicious production. The setting of the play in a 1930’s inspired Hotel Messina gives the production the aura of a mise-en-scene from a Wes Anderson film. This sets up a very satirical tone and the performers are deeply in tune with this register.

The ambience that is created is playful and facetious and especially enhanced by the presence of the live band. All of this lends itself to depicting the romance between the central characters as heated and lustful. The hotel setting creates some very clever contextualisation for Don Pedro's visit, and the inner world of a luxury resort is the perfect setting to welcome his entourage of soldiers. The ease with which gossip and conjecture is seen to travel through this setting adds a dash of realism.

Hero (Ioanna Kimbook) is played in a demure but confident manner. Her character is far from naive, and this makes her response to the terrible accusations by Claudio (Eben Figueiredo) incredibly dramatic. Figueiredo brings a great deal of raw enthusiasm into the part of Claudio; he is woefully love struck when he sees Hero and is clearly out of his depth as a man when he suspects she has been unfaithful. This explains his gullibility to the extremely mean trick that has been played on him by Don John (David Judge). Judge portrays Don John as quite sinister and as someone who yields a great deal of satisfaction from his devilish manipulations. All of the women are also given significant backbone in this show, including Antonia (Wendy Kweh) whose expression of wrath is wonderfully emasculating. This makes them as intriguing as any of the male characters and foregrounds the inherent gender wars in this play as an important theme.

The production clearly positions the love between Beatrice (Katherine Parkinson) and Benedick (John Heffernan) as central to the entire play. Their constant bickering combined with their irresistible attraction to one another is cast as interesting and dynamic, and many of the events in the play are seen to hinge upon the success of their union. 

Dogberry (David Fynn) provides some great comic relief, and his actions perfectly parody the nature and function of hotel security. Many of the amusing antics throughout the show, including those executed by Beatrice and Benedick, are expertly and lovingly executed. However, the strength of this production lies in its emphasis on flippancy and impishness and the striking décor within which it is all so beautifully encapsulated.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Manuel Harlan