Much Ado About Nothing Archives

Much Ado about Nothing – Augustine United Church

26Apr

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Much Ado about Nothing – Augustine United Church

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) sl...

17Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Much Ado About Nothing – Theatre Deli

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. A wet and wild production of Much Ado About Nothing has rolled into town to take you for a ride. Without a shirt on its back or an ounce of pretension in its other dressings, this wantonly accessible production throws the audience right into the thick of it. Shakespeare's most obnoxious lovers are back on their bull. Beatrice (Bobby Hughes) and Benedick (Zak Rosen) are capricious, ridiculous, captivating rivals locked in pursuit of the audiences' laughter with hearts bound to fall no matter how much they kick and scream on the way down. This high octane production, rehearsed and performed in only a handful of hours, is relentlessly energetic and powered exclusively by the forceful charisma of its cast. Without a set, costumes, or pr...

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare North Playhouse

12Jun

By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments

North West

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Ever seen a punk version of Shakespeare? No, well take a seat for Laura J Harris's adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. With a colourful cast of emerging LGBTQ+ and Northern talent, I can guarantee you haven't seen Shakespeare quite like this. Set in the North West of England during the 1980s We have the cunning and dastardly Captain Don John (Mike Bell) who orchestrates mayhem with his band of mischief makers Boracchio (Amy-Lou Harris) and Conrad (Elinor Boult). The trio play great villains and they are the characters you want to see brought to justice in the end. Entangled in their corrupt plan are the poor lovers Claudio (Coda James Neil) and Hero (Shannon Lancashire). Both characters were well portrayed with some excellent emotive scenes, especially Claudio, a very powerful and mov...

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

17Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

Shakespeare is already a dramatic affair, especially when it comes to Much Ado About Nothing, but what happens when one of the play's leads is drunk? Sh!t Faced Shakespeare takes a cast of professionally trained Shakespearean actors and then gets one of them drunk leading to what can only be described as beautifully brilliant chaos. The cast must then attempt to perform a shortened performance of the chosen Shakespeare text whilst putting up with the drunken adlibs of their inebriated cast mate. To make things more interesting a different cast member will take on the role of the drunk each night along with a different character in the show, you are guaranteed that the show will be different every night of the run. The show is safe enough with the drunk being supervised at all ...

Much Ado About Nothing – St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, Liverpool

2Aug

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Much Ado About Nothing – St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, Liverpool

It’s almost thirty years since Dan Meigh got Off The Ground Theatre, well, up and running, and there is much to be excited about with this production of 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. In post-war Messina, the home of Leonato (Ben Currie) with daughter Hero (Sarah Elise France) and cousin Beatrice (Kathy McGurk) ever present, Prince Don Pedro (Phil Rayner) leads the returning soldiers which include his illegitimate brother Don John (Chloe Hughes), Claudio (Tyler Clark), and Benedick (Connor Wray), and it is with some inevitability that Claudio is drawn to Hero as much as Benedick and Beatrice are apparently not. But th...

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare’s Globe

20May

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare’s Globe

Shakespeare’s enduringly delightful tale of wit-crossed lovers enlivens The Globe Theatre this summer, pouring Mediterranean sun into every darkened crevice of that wooden “O”. Directed by Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes and composed of an energetic cast of young actors, this production is both brash and bashful. The convivial environment of the open-air theatre is well suited to these frolicsome festivities and each of its performers seem intent upon maximizing the audiences delight in their collective spectacle. From the processional marches of the visiting Don Pedro and his crew of lovesick soldiers to the courting dances of Leonato and his bevy of irreverential young maidens, every opportunity for mirth is here seized. Led in their revelry by the ever-at-war and never-in-lov...

15Jun

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare North Playhouse

So, for those that do not know what Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing (and many do ask!) the story is a comedic play by William Shakespeare about misunderstandings, love and deception. Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro arrive at Leonato's house in Messina. Beatrice and Benedick bicker with each other and Claudio, a soldier, falls in love with Leonato's daughter, Hero. Don John, who is Don Pedro's evil half-brother, tricks Claudio into believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful. Meanwhile, Don Pedro and others plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together. Claudio accuses Hero of infidelity and refuses to marry her. Leonato is persuaded to pretend that she is dead. Hero's innocence is proven, and Claudio repents. He agrees to accept Antonio's daughter in marriage, and she turns...

<strong>Much Ado About Nothing – Duke of York’s Theatre</strong>

10Feb

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Much Ado About Nothing – Duke of York’s Theatre

Love Island meets Shakespeare in this new adaptation of the celebrated play “Much Ado About Nothing”. In this classic Shakespeare tale of love, twists and dark humour, this adaptation is a new take and one which younger audiences are sure to enjoy. The play revolves around two romantic pairings, who have found themselves on a reality TV show, ‘Nothing Island’. The typically happy couple, Claudio and Hero, find trouble in paradise when the cast conspire against them in order to provide those at home with the reality TV drama they crave. Becoming involved, unlikely pair Benedick and Beatrice, form an unlikely romance (with a little help from hearsay) fuelled with plenty of wit and banter for the audience to enjoy. The set is particularly standout. As the audience wait for the action to...

7Oct

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Much Ado About Nothing – Birmingham Rep

I always approach Shakespeare tentatively. Not that he’s not good. In fact, I’ve heard many reports that’s he’s one of the best, but I just don’t have the ear for his words. I have trouble keeping up. So, being a thoroughly professional reporter and not wanting to lose the thread or the point or the plot, I chose to bone up prior and read up in the plot. I needed have bothered. Robert Hastie’s production made the entire plot easily and clearly accessible with a proliferation of signing, signage and surtitles designed to include just about everyone in this all-inclusive, highly-accessible, disability-friendly production. Despite some of the bard’s more esoteric images and clunky metaphors the notions, ideas and thoughts came over crystal clear easily vaulting the Shakespearean language b...

Much Ado about Nothing – Hope Mill Theatre

19Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Much Ado about Nothing – Hope Mill Theatre

Shakespeare isn’t for everybody, they say. Well, it was tonight in Ancoats! HER Productions & Girl Gang Manchester & Unseemly Shakespeare have produced yet another (this is their fourth Shakespearean outing) magical piece of theatre which allows the wit of Shakespeare’s writing to speak for itself, with an impressive cast who relish the opportunity to perform it. A plot to drive a couple apart and a plot to unite another paring both through trickery and male misplaced notions of the opposite sex. A play about desire and love, this production highlights gender politics acutely; it’s far more than a Tudor rom-com. The gender fluid casting is pure Shakespeare and adds a unique joy to the play. This a comedic play and each line was delivered with a sharpness that made the Elizabetha...