Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Liverpool
Playhouse
April 13 – May 5
Director:
Phil Wilmott
Produced by The Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatre Company
Stephen Billington, Ally Holmes, Sally Ann Triplett, Perri Snowdon, Simon
Merrells, Faz Singhateh, Peter Bygott, Stephen Boswell, Ruth Everett,
Howard Sadler.
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Simon Merrells (Benedick) Sally Ann Triplett (Beatrice)
On stage, nowhere is the adage that the road of love is truly rocky more
handsomely played out than in Shakespeare’s Much Ado
About Nothing, with its gang of characters so perversely
adverse to stating their feelings.
Benedick
(Merrells) and Claudio (Billington) are back from the wars. The Second
World War, that is, and the action fits nicely into the period, given
that the Bard doesn’t actually mention from which wars his original
characters are returning from. Fifty years might see them coming back
from Iraq, who knows.
Peace in our time, however, is something the characters fail to find, as everybody begins spying and eavesdropping on everybody else, with faultless performances bringing laugh after laugh from the audience.
The set, the front of a mansion with a vast double staircase, is beautifully designed, simple and used to full effect, as it changes at the flick of a candle into the inside of a church or hall, with ease.
Sally
Ann Triplett, in the role of “Tom-boy” Beatrice, is a ball
of sparkling energy throughout and brings the play to life, along with
Merrells, in the sub-plot of their characters being too stubborn to
recognise their love until the very end. Peter Bygott is perfect as
Leonato, the wronged and last-to-know father of Hero (Everett), whereas
Perri Snowdon entertainingly brings the duplicitous Conrad to life,
especially when the guards – in this case, a troop of Boy Scouts
– beat him up.
Though lighter than some Shakespeare plots concerning the battle of the sexes, Much Ado About Nothing still has its dark moments conjured up brilliantly by Don John (Singhateh) and his cruel, curling lip.
Overall, this is a fine production,
set superbly and enacted faultlessly by all involved.
9/10.
If so - please feel free to leave your FEEDBACK
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.