The first half is all adrenalin and testosterone, as the footballers of Messina punch the air in a lively and engaging opening following their victory in the cup. Football shirts, TV graphics, changing room towels, naked men and well-defined abs. Love Island meets Premiership footballers in a visually entertaining celebration of bling, boobs and balls with blokes jumping into the hot tub placed centre stage. A game or rather a play of two halves – before the interval it has a football and WAGs theme – while after the break or half time the action switches to the upcoming nuptials of Hero and Claudio and Don John’s plans to red card them.
The Royal Shakespeare’s production of Much Ado About Nothing directed by Michael Longhurst is strong on visuals and production values but can’t escape from the daft plot. When the dastardly Don John (Noja Khazai) tells air-head Claudio (Daniel Adeosun) that his bride to be Hero (Eleanor Worthington-Cox) isn’t a virgin he humiliates her at the wedding vows by calling out her virginity. All hell follows with poor Hero disgraced and then supposedly dead before the evidence is overturned and Claudio agrees to marry Antonio’s daughter – only for Hero to appear to prove she’s alive and now willing to wed Claudio.
The best part of the story is the sparring of confirmed bachelor Benedick (Nick Blood) and witty Beatrice (Freema Agyeman) whose sparkling dialogue has always been the salvation of the play. That and the comedy characters, the bungling Dogberry (Antonio Magro) and his deputies who help to uncover Don John’s plan to besmirch Hero’s name seemed to lose something in the telling in its slightly ponderous pace. Sitting up in the Gods meant much of their dialogue was lost or muffled by the packed house, and although Beatrice cut an elegant and confident figure, I wasn’t sure about her chemistry with in-denial romantic Benedick.
Visually impressive the production also benefitted from Jon Bausor’s set design which used every inch of the thrust stage which included a gallery stage for Margaret’s bedroom scene which descended from the heavens, a palm tree that rose from the floor and the hot tub or jacuzzi – which begged the question was it heated since several of the characters (and memorably Benedick who stayed under water for nearly a minute as he evades detection) spent quite some time in it.
Re-created for the Married at First Sight and UEFA Champions League generations the optics were great. It’s just the Tudor-era morals seem to jar with the modern context despite replacing swords with soccer, doublet and hose with football shirts, Tudor dresses with short skirts and plenty of bare flesh. Overall, the impression was hugely entertaining with some super set pieces, a brilliant set, designer costumes and a celebration of bling, boobs and footballs – despite the misogynist attitudes which needed VAR to highlight them.
Harry Mottram
The play continues at Stratford-upon-Avon until May 24th, 2025.
Tickets: https://secure.rsc.org.uk/events/much-ado-about-nothing?endDate=2025-05-24
You must be logged in to post a comment.