Cast (in order of appearance):
Singer
Tim Howar
Beatrice
Samantha Spiro
Hero
Anneika Rose
Margaret
Annalisi Rossi
Rose
Kate Tydman
Messenger
Eke Chukwu
Ursula
Sarah Ingram
Leonato
Nigel Cooke
Don Pedro
Silas Carson
Benedick
Ben Mansfield
Don John
Tim Steed
Conrade
Chris Jared
Borachio
Peter Bramhill
Dogberry
Anthony O’Donnell
Verges
Simon Gregor
Creative Team
Director
Timothy Sheader
Set designer
Philip Witcomb
Costume designer
Deirdre Clancy
Composer
David Shrubsole
Choreographer
Ann Yee
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Much ado
About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
25 May - 27 June 2009
‘Man is a giddy creature’ is Benedick’s conclusion at the end of Much Ado about Nothing – prey to fashion, socially constructed, untrustworthy, self-deceiving, vindictive, pompous, weak, lustful; but also capable of love. In Much Ado, as so often, Shakespeare brilliantly represents the whole gamut of human traits, and we are shocked as well as ultimately delighted. And as usual he is astute not just on the faults common to generic ‘man’ but on the faults specific to man as opposed to woman, and vice versa. It’s easy of course to read into the play our own contemporary insights and ideologies – it’s hardly likely that the Elizabethans would have seen the sparring of Beatrice and Benedick, and the repudiation of Hero for alleged unchastity, as we tend to do, and maybe we are reading our own theories about self-deception or about the construction of emotions into this 400 year-old play.
Anachronism is a problem for any rendition of Much Ado, and when the Regent's Park Open Air production began, with a gaggle of laughing young women running onto the stage and tossing oranges to one another, it looked as if we were going to be in for the typical unhappy hybrid – historical period archness combined with a free-and-easiness between the sexes and classes that is embarrassingly impossible to the era; hoydenish women out of synch with their costumes, and Elizabethan bawdy highlighted, which always makes it feel even more dated. But as the play went on, Beatrice (Samantha Spiro) revealed a vulnerability and depth that belied her brassiness, and the relationship between her and Benedick (the funny, charismatic Sean Campion) became increasingly vivid and moving.
There were occasional drops in tempo, and the acting was uneven, but overall the production was enchanting. Sean Campion was one of the funniest, most charismatic, most appealing Benedicks I have ever seen. Claudio (Ben Mansfield) had just the right blend of beauty, weakness and cruelty, and Silas Carson as Don Pedro turned what is often a colourless, implausible part into a humourous and utterly convincing portrayal of princely charm and callousness. The twists and tilts of the ramp that ran up and down the stage area enabled the actors to hide and lurk under and beside it in a way that emphasised the play’s theme of conspiracy and covertness; fake orange trees beautifully blended with real Regents Park oaks and birdsong. The dancing in the masque conveyed a predatory maleness versus pliant femaleness that contradicted the brave wit of the women and emphasised how powerless poor Hero was. This contrasted with the dancing at the end in which Beatrice and Benedick entrancingly communicated their lust, love, intelligence and humour, and ended heart-rendingly as, after all their exuberance, Samantha Spiro suddenly faced towards her lover with seriousness and sincerity.
Who cares whether or not the Elizabethans conceptualised self-deception, or the construction or emotion, or the relations between men and women, in the way we do – the point is that Shakespeare helped to form the concepts of such things, and Timothy Sheader’s production showed these concepts in the act of transformation.
Jane O’Grady
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