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:

29 March 2007

With memories of Marianne Elliott's wonderful 1950s Cuban staging of the play still very fresh in the mind, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory has set itself a challenge taking on Much Ado About Nothing so soon. On the other hand, the play would seem to play to the company's strengths following its deft negotiation of Love's Labour's Lost last year.

But while director Dan Hilton's staging has finesse and, as usual, is clearly and intelligently spoken, it seems lacking in the necessary comic fizz. Of course, it would be invidious to make a direct comparison between the work of a company which is heavily subsidised with one which operates on the thinnest of shoestrings. And the difficulties of a play peppered with punning undoubtedly contributed to the quiescence of an audience composed chiefly of students. Still, the company fared better with the similarly wordy Love's Labour's Lost.

Hilton, like [G...

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