Much Ado About Nothing

Synopsis

After civil war Messina seems to have returned to peace with few casualties and a courtship holds the promise of reconciling the battle of the sexes in a well matched wedding. But the reconciliation's have been too hurried and soldiers can't return to the civilian world overnight.

Our Review:

28 September 2012

Iqbal Khan's Indian-themed Much Ado comes to town and it's gratifying to see an Asian-dominated audience. And following on the heels of Gregory Doran's all-black Julius Caesar, the RSC should be congratulated for attracting a broader clientele to its productions.

But one shouldn't think that the Indian-themed production is a marketing gimmick. Khan finds pointed parallels between the themes of the play and Indian society: arranged marriage, the sense of dishonour wrought by a sexually active daughter, the highly stratified social hierarchy - all have resonances in modern India.

Complaints about the long running time of the Stratford production have been taken on board and at just under three hours, it's fast and furious.

Meera Syal and Paul Bhattacharjee are a witty central pair, there's plenty of delight in their wordplay, although I didn't get any sense of any great sexual chemistry – it's more as i...

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Latest User Review

Jennie Crosby - 29 September 2012:

Saw this twice at Stratford and it hadn't improved the second time except that set-piece speeches were delivered at breakneck speed and therefore totally missed their mark. So many other opportunities to bring out the comedy are also missed, which makes me wonder whether the director actually understood the comic potential of this play at all. A frustrating and disappointing experience. Good set, though!...

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