Much Ado About Nothing review, Park Theatre

Much Ado About Nothing is a Shakespearean rom-com in which steely Beatrice and teasing Benedick are forced to park the smart lines and work together to save the virtue of our heroine, Hero. Hero, wrongly spurned at the altar by the limping (in this version) Claudio who believes she's a wanton, is pretending to have died of shock at his cruelty. Will news of her death finesse the villains who sullied her reputation, and will any resulting good luck rub off on B and B?

It's a jolly play with a slow first half relieved by some terrific banter, and a lively second in which the treatment of Hero by both her affianced and her doubting father, leaves a bad taste in the mouth even as you're smiling. In this downsized version by the ACS Random theatre company, Libby Evans is a lively Beatrice and Garry Summers, wearing a kilt in case we haven't spotted the Scottish accent, a charming Benedick. Gordon Ridout provides a terrific run of malapropisms as the dopy Constable, Dogberry, who outs the crooks, and Scarlett Clifford is a sweet and swooning Hero.

Director, Andrew Shepherd's decision to set the play at the end of WWII, and at Christmas, is confusing. There is no obvious connection between the action (in defeated Sicily), the characters, and his framing.  In one particularly bizarre scene, the giant Christmas tree in a corner of the stage doubles as Hero's grave, Silent Night is played as the mourners approach, and to cap it all,  Claudio pulls out a bugle and plays a full version of the Last Post. What was all that about?

In conclusion: Dogberry and his sidekick Verges - hilarious Catherine Nix-Collins - appear in the guise of a gangster and his moll, and Margaret is so grande dame, she's more like Hero's mother than her lady-in-waiting. This may confuse if you're not familiar with Much Ado About Nothing. If you are, you will enjoy the warmth and good humour of this production.

References
Park Theatre, Tickets

Park Theatre,  Clifton Terrace, London N4 3JP.    Run ends 15 December