Much Ado About Nothing (NT)

Phew, glad it is lots of fun. I was worried they might do something odd with it. 

Thought this was really good fun: great concept, well realised and very funny (I even laughed at Dogberry, whom I normally find really annoying, so massive kudos to that actor and the director).

Some spoilers about the production below, so don’t read if you want to go in blind!

Benedick was the standout, very natural and engaging and managed to combine funny, touching and adorable very well. Big fan of Hero too, liked having an Antonia as Leonato’s wife, thought it gave a great dynamic with Hero. Plus thought it was interesting that Margaret was a bit more fully realised than normal - here at the (not) wedding she realised the part she’d played in Hero’s downfall and tried to confess, but was roughly silenced by Don John - it’s not something I’ve noticed in a production before, but it really made sense.

As others have said, much less keen on Katharine Parkinson as Beatrice - there was literally not even a hint of wistfulness or past pain or depth to the character, which was a shame. She was very funny and lovely and had great chemistry with Benedict after the interval. But I think for the battles of wit and realisation of love to land there needs to be some sense that Beatrice has been hurt before and there just wasn’t (plus I hate it when the audience laugh at the Kill Claudio line and she played it so much for laughs that it probably got the biggest laugh of the night).

But overall would recommend - maybe there’s hope for the National yet

Indeed. You wonder how the young chap acting in the original prod did it. Those lads must have been amazing actors. 

Not the night I saw it. She got a big laugh for it.

That scene is so key to both lead characters. Get the tone wrong and it throws the balance out.

Haven’t seen this yet so can’t comment on KP and the weaknesses mentioned above, but in my view Rachel Stirling would be perfect for the part and she actually wants to play it. But of course casting in venues like the NT isn’t all about suitability.

Is there anything on stage to make front row restricted seats particularly restricted please?

Saw it tonight. Likes it. Very Simon Godwin production…I actually really like his my favourite being Twelfth Night. Loads of people around me were laughing their heads off. I wasn’t…seen it too many times and I found the RSC version as loves Labours Won hilarious. There is a very funny bit with a gelato stand. But my favourite Beatrice and Benedict was Ed Bennet and Michelle Terry. Heffernan was good but no real chemistry. There are a couple of actors I would like to see do it. Saoirse Ronan and James McArdle were great Macbeths and about 10 years ago I saw Pippa Nixon and Alex Walkman in As you Like it and they had so much chemistry. I thought I would love to see them do Much Ado

Do we know when they are planning to announce the new AD ? 

On Much Ado, one RSC pairing I remember being good was Nigel Terry and Fiona Shaw, Shaw wearing small round glasses in Joyce Grenfell mode, Terry playing himself. The two of them did Merchant of Venice in rep with it. 

Deliberately broken. Doran was quite clear when he took over that he wasn’t interested in establishing a company of actors who would appear in multiple productions and develop together. He succeeded, there’s not a single leading actor who has emerged from the RSC during his tenure.

Godwin is popular with who ? Only with audiences, that won't count for much. 

EW is continutiy candidate-what a thing to be....

EW is the Truss of the RSC

Having supposed to of been at Charing Cross theatre this afternoon to watch “The Throne”, an email last week cancelling the remaining performances left me with a free afternoon show slot. After a quick look on the NT website last Friday, it threw up a £10 stalls row P rush ticket for MAAN, so what seemed like too good an offer to pass up and with KP in the show, I didn’t have any hesitation in snapping it up. Also, not having seen any productions of MAAN, it was a way of finally ticking this Shakespeare off the list.

Certainly, from this afternoons viewing I certainly had a nice time watching this, and after seeing quite a lot of serious stuff at the NT since it reopened, it was finally nice to see a comedy staged here. There were plenty of positives to take away from this production. Firstly the I really did love the hotel set design from Anna Fleischle. It really is a beautiful construction making full use of the stage. Secondly with the cast, John Heffernan as Benedick was the standout for me as. He managed to combine some really great comedy moments (the ice cream scene was a particular highlight) with some emotional depths when required. He certainly stole the scenes he was in. Also the scenes with the four security guards another real positive from the show giving the audience some real laugh out loud moments. The use of the live band was a nice touch to proceedings.

As a fan of KP’s work both on stage and screen, I wasn’t entirely won over by her portrayal of Beatrice. I have no issue with the comedic performance which was great to watch, though I did feel that there really wasn’t any emotional depth to that character. The “Kill Claudio line” seemed to be delivered to get a laugh from the audience (which it certainly did this afternoon). For me, taking this approach seriously impacted the lines straight after that one and completely changed the tone of that particular scene. Personally, I would if seen that line delivered without the comedy for a much greater emotional impact.

The very first Much Ado I ever saw was the Simon Russell Beale/Zoe Wanamaker production at the NT, and I am afraid it spoiled me.

I enjoyed this production well enough, but I can’t help comparing it to that, and it didn’t measure up (unsurprisingly).

Not keen on the other bits of Shakespeare being added
- I can understand the rationale behind adding sonnet 29 there, because explaining the character’s willingness to go along with the plan is always tricky, but it just slows the action down.