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Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Much Ado About Nothing
O Spiro (Beatrice) Much Ado About Nothing Photo by Alistair Muir
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Timothy Sheader
25 May - 27 June 2009
A review by Mags Gaisford for EXTRA! EXTRA!
What do soldiers do when the war is over? These days, employing skills learnt on the battlefield out of context turns veterans into violent criminals. In Shakespeare’s Italy, combative strategies are turned to the ‘merry war’ of love. Prince Don Pedro (Silas Carson) and his pals return victorious from the battlefield to the home of the governor, Leonato (Nigel Cooke). Don Pedro’s two friends, Benedick (Sean Campion) and Claudio (Ben Mansfield), are to turn their minds to the service of ‘soft and delicate desires’, entering into two very different romantic involvements. The instant, lightning attraction suffered by Claudio will become prey to trickery by the two royal brothers: both the playful, idle games of Don Pedro and the more malicious schemes of ‘the bastard John’, his brother. Meanwhile, there is the (perhaps more interesting) story of Benedick and Beatrice. Each is proud, defiantly single and razor - sharp – tongued. Their match, immediately obvious to the audience, is apparently invisible to them and must be contrived by their friends with cunning ingenuity. The two affairs chart a detailed and highly amusing psychology of love.
Sean Campion (Benedick) - Much Ado About Nothing Photo by Alistair Muir
The programme for the performance explains that the play’s title is a play on the word ‘nothing’. It was pronounced ‘noting’ in Elizabethan times, which was also an old word for ‘fancying’: ‘taking note of someone – usually a woman – and judging or appraising them.’ With typical Shakespearian subtlety, the various connotations in the title are played out on stage. The deceptions, delusions, spy games and misguided assumptions involved in the pursuit of love create a tangle of misunderstandings, combining to present an absurd, completely unnecessary and compulsively entertaining drama. Within this frivolous comedy, however, are insights into the ridiculous lengths people will go to for amusement’s sake. The beautiful open – air setting of Regents Park allows the drama to spill beyond the stage. The huge modern audience drawn to engage with this old story is testament to the timeless consistency of the human character. Evidence for our intrinsically nosey nature can also be found at home, in the less sophisticated tradition of the televised soap opera. True appreciation of the elaborate linguistic manipulation that is so crucial to this comedy demands expert translators. There’s no question these actors are up to the task. Sean Campion and Samantha Spiro do perfect justice to the brilliant wit of Benedick and Beatrice. Campion’s intonation and comic timing are faultless when the love-struck Benedick reads secret amorous messages into Beatrice’s statement: ‘Against my will I am sent to bid you come into dinner’. This is made all the more enjoyable by its contrast to Benedick’s earlier attitude, which was expressed in such insults as: ‘if her breath were as terrible as her terminations, there were no living near her’ There are many opportunities here for visual exploitation of slapstick humour and choreographer Ann Yee’s work is truly creative. Her physical interpretation achieves perfect synthesis with Philip Witcomb’s set design, Deirdre Clancy’s costumes and Fergus O’Hare’s sound design. An elegant grey spiralling stage, whose planks curl delicately around the trunks of two citrus trees, sets off the costumes. The strange shapes of Elizabethan fashion are given a stunning contemporary edge. The colours are soft, simple and bright, combining with musical interludes to mesmerising, spectacular effect. The play could be seen as a tribute to the creative innovation in pure amusement: the sheer enjoyment of using words to run rings around helpless hearts. This linguistic ingenuity, then, is echoed by the creative team’s various skills. This said, there’s a lot more to this ‘ado’ than nothing. The relationship between Benedick and Beatrice is almost anachronistically equal, and together they provide a challenging commentary on the more conventional, cynical couplings of characters like Claudio and Hero. As Viv Groskop writes in the programme, ‘Beatrice is leading Benedick into the twenty – first century, challenging him to defy the patriarchal status quo,’ to ‘destroy the macho culture which values a woman’s virginity over her life.’ When they do finally succumb to the humiliation of love they do so with honesty and self awareness. They are, as Benedick says, ‘too wise to woo peacefully.’ Baffled by the many webs spun to satisfy restless minds, he remarks: ‘man is a giddy thing and this is my conclusion.’
Ben Mansfield (Claudio) - Much Ado About Nothing Photo by Alistair Muir
08448264242 £10 - £38 Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NR
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