There are pranks aplenty in the Edinburgh Rep Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing – only some of which are benevolent.
Benedick (Declan Jennow) and Beatrice (Beth Eltringham) have one thing in common: they never want to get married, and they are particularly horrified at the suggestion that they might marry each other. They both talk about this a lot. They are clearly destined to be together; their friends just have to help them break the ice.
Meanwhile, the wicked Don John (a softly spoken Colby Scott) is scheming and plotting. Hero (Erin Frances Spiers) walks beaming down the aisle (we are in an actual church, after all) arm-in-arm with her proud father Leonato (Kyle Paton). But Don John has framed her as a wicked harlot! Her fiancé Claudio (Patrick Foxwell) slut-shames her at the altar, and her father joins in! Can Beatrice restore Hero’s honour, so that Hero can still live happily ever after with the misogynist who publicly humiliated her? As with so many romcoms, cognitive dissonance is essential.
Oliver Giggins has reassigned some dialogue to give Hero more agency, and Spiers makes her delightful and determined. Leonato is an interesting role for an actor, and Paton really plays up the contrast between the heartwarming love that this character has for his daughter, and the cruel fury that is unleashed when her character is called into question.
There are some really fun pieces of physical comedy and slapstick. Dogberry (Calum Philp) imagines himself as James Bond, then impales himself on a traffic cone. There’s a sword fight with swimming pool noodles. And Beatrice disguises herself as a tree.
The pacing could do with a bit of a push, as the laid-back atmosphere of Messina is taken a bit too far. The layout of the stage sometimes forces the large cast into a straightish line, and I’d like to see more variety in the use of the space. Above all, the show was delightfully funny, with endearing performances from all the cast. At the end, I felt as if I had been injected with joy.
The newly established Edinburgh Rep Company have ambitiously pledged to stage a different play every month. I hope they will all be as much fun as this one.
Reviewer: Wendy McEwan
Reviewed: 24th April 2026
North West End UK Rating: