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:

2 August 2012

There is never a shortage of productions of Much Ado About Nothing – and given the strengths of the play, it is not hard to see why audiences, directors and actors are so often drawn to the piece.

Giving the production a contemporary Indian setting could be seen as a radical choice on the part of director Iqbal Khan, but he presents an intelligent and coherent reading of the text that fully justifies his decision. There is a synergy between Shakespeare’s words and the natural rhythms and inflections of Indian speech patterns that makes the text come alive in a new and arresting fashion.

Central to any production has to be the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice and we have had no shortage of high-octane partnerships in recent years. Paul Bhattacharjee and Meera Syal certainly have the potential to shine but they still seem to be somewhat tentative. They share many fine moments (such as their touching attempts at intimacy in Act ...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

Andrew Hall - 4 October 2012:

Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. Gabbled dialogue with crude overacting that rammed home every little point with all the subtlety of a rolled-up newspaper around the head. ...

Read more and add your own review