Reader Reviews
Much Ado About Nothing (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Wonderful. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 06 Aug 02 |
| Yes, Harriet Walter is superb - wonderfully funny and touching as Beatrice. Yes, the updating to '30's Sicily works a treat and the designs are lovely. Yes, the smaller roles are perfectly cast. But I have to say I found most of this production deeply unfunny and was tempted to leave at the interval. Nicholas le Prevost is without doubt the least appealing Benedick I've ever seen. Not only does he come across as a morose alcoholic, but he gabbles his lines and for much of the time is incomprehensible (many people sitting near me in the Balcony remarked on this during the interval). Not that this matters much as director Greg Doran seems to have little confidence in Shakespeare's words; the production is overloaded with comic business (such as Beatrice being soaked with water as she hides behind the greenery), Clive Wood's camp Don Pedro is tiresome in the extreme and the usually reliable Christopher Benjamin made very little of Dogberry. Very disappointing indeed, or perhaps I had the misfortune to see a duff performance. - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 30 Jun 02 |
| A real 5 Star production. Beautifully set and superbly cast. Didn't realise that Harriet Walter could be so sexy! - USER: Whatsonstage.com | 12 Jun 02 |
