Much Ado About Nothing (2022) – RSC, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Shown on BBC4 at the end of its run, this is one of Shakespeare’s funniest pieces full of delightful word play and it is often wondered whether it is the missing Love’s Labour’s Won, the latter half of a comic double bill with Love’s Labour Lost.

Interpretation is key in theatre to keep it alive for new audiences and certainly there have been no holds barred with this production from director Roy Alexander Weise, indeed if there was ever an attempt to outdo Baz Luhrmann then this would be it with its rich tapestry of sci-fi staging and costume changes outdoing each preceding one to the pulsating medley of Afrobeat, reggae, funk and soul from Femi Temowo. However, as I often find with productions that focus on the sensational and hide behind the music, when you peel away the superfluous layers then, as with an onion, you are often left in tears.

With some gender reversal from the original, the action is set in Messina – that oscillates between palace, nightclub and anything inbetween – that is the home of Leonato (Kevin N Golding) with daughter Hero (Taya Ming) and Cousin Beatrice (Akiya Henry) ever present.

Don Pedra (Toyin Ayedun-Alase) leads the returning soldiers which include illegitimate brother Don John (Micah Balfour), Claudio (Mohammed Mansaray), and Benedick (Luke Wilson), and it is with some inevitability that Claudio is drawn to Hero as much as Benedick and Beatrice are apparently not. But the jealous Don John is unhappy with his lot in life and sets out to turn the tables on rival Claudio with the assistance of Borachio (Curtis Kemlo) and Conrade (Miles Mitchell). With everyone pre-occupied with forthcoming nuptials, will master constable Dogberry (Karen Henthorn) and the nightwatch manage to catch the culprits in action and report back in time to ensure a happy ending after all? It’s all twists and turns and the outcome will certainly not be what you are expecting.

Costume designer, Melissa Simon-Hartman, and set designer, Jemima Robinson, have pushed every boundary and whilst they might get high marks for creative trying, the end result smacks of a mix of the quality from a 1960’s sci-fi show and something that children’s TV might have thought up: fortunately, we were missing the Teletubbies although I would bet it crossed someone’s mind.

Strip away these trimmings and put to one side the wonderful language and one is left with some distinctly wooden performances which made me wonder whether this was deliberately dumbed down or – drum roll – some of the cast can’t act: either way, neither reflects well on the RSC as it became overly cartoonish. It’s a real shame because in trying to be a lot of things it has only succeeded in being distinctly average and at almost three hours it’s a hard watch.

It’s not all doom and gloom: there are some moments, particularly as we get into the body of the work and towards the end where the creative interference has lessened off – or I just became numb to it – when we finally get some strong production values taking precedent to deliver good doses of humour intermingled with some sensitively delivered scenes, with Wilson’s likeable mischievousness combined with Henry’s flamboyant minx providing some much-needed relief.

What a shame it didn’t start with this in mind because a great play deserves better treatment than this – and so does its audience. In spite of these final flourishes which provide some saving grace, overall, we got the wrong kind of energy and as a result lost the emotion.

Available to watch on BBC iPlayer until April 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001646w/much-ado-about-nothing

Reviewer: Mark Davoren

Reviewed: 3rd April 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★★