Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is the classic (and probably the first ever) romantic comedy, setting up two characters — the prince’s competent but increasingly nervous friend Benedick and the very sharp Beatrice, best friend of her cousin Hero — who are philosophically opposed though in fact they are both completely likeable, share a good deal of caustic wit, and observe life similarly.  Benedick’s friends — Claudio; Hero’s father, Leonato; and the prince, Don Pedro — and Hero’s closest female friends, her lady-in-waiting, Margaret; and her cousin, Beatrice, contrive to bring the two together in wonderfully staged scenes of deception that provide some of the play’s funniest moments.

Alongside this pure comedy–romance plays another story, of the mischief that a single person can do with no more reason than that he can.  The prince’s illegitimate and sour brother, Don John, wishing to spread as much joylessness as possible, schemes repeatedly to thwart the love evident between Hero and Claudio, to bring about a terrible public accusation by one against the other.

You may have watched the movie, read the play, and seen it performed on stage.  But you haven’t seen a production of Much Ado like this.  Bell Shakespeare’s way of conveying perfectly the subtlest meanings in Shakespeare’s words, virtually unchanged, turns any of the plays into tales we can relate to; and in Much Ado About Nothing, Bell has wrung every drop of both hilarity and pathos from a sublime script.  Leaving aside a few moments of confusion in which a player seemed to be alternating between his two characters, every minute invited either laughter or tears.  This is a production not to miss.

John P. Harvey

Photographer: Clare Hawley