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Reviews
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Much Ado About NothingBy William Shakespeare The second play in the Globe's Season of Star-Crossed Lovers welcomes back the women's company. Last year, there were mixed responses to their Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew. The third attempt brings to mind Samuel Johnson's comment "a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all". While the casting of women for all parts (including the musicians) is novel, it does begin to smack of affectation and proving a point. To avoid accusations of sexism, it is important to emphasise that all-male casting is open to identical criticism. Under excellent Master (or should that be Mistress?) of Play, Tamara Harvey, the audience has a whale of a time. Their response at the end was rapturous, with much whistling and whooping, so the gender bending becomes an irrelevance. For some reason, the only parts in which the ladies struggled for credibility were those of the old men. This should not detract from a good performance from Penelope Beaumont as Leonato. Miss Harvey ensures that the play races along and she has a wonderful feel for the ridiculous and a mischievous sense of humour. In particular, she really delights in jokes, both verbal and physical. She also requires a good element of interplay with the audience - always a good idea at The Globe. This lightness can be at the expense of certain elements of the plot. The back-story of a war and the fact that so many of the men are soldiers are subsumed.
The key pairings on which the play is based are a real contrast. Mariah Gale's Hero is a rather anaemic girl, wooed then spurned by the ardent, young Claudio (Ann Ogbomo). By contrast, Beatrice, played with robust vigour by Yolanda Vazquez, is a man-hating shrew "possessed with fury". Her treatment of Benedick is cruel, but witty. Josie Lawrence in that part sports a Black Country accent and perhaps shows him as a man desirous of Beatrice at too early a stage. From the outset, he seems to moon over her. The casting of Lawrence as bawdy Benedick is one of the successes, as this is a weak, introspective man who lends himself to such an experiment. Two of the best performances of the night come from unexpected quarters. Rachel Sanders is absolutely wonderful as the swaggering, dastardly Don John, complete with van Dyck beard. It is hard to imagine that many men could have played the part more convincingly. The comedy is to the fore throughout, but never more so than when Sarah Woodward is on stage playing Master Constable Dogberry. This is a malapropic, officious fool, crossing George Cole with Monty Python in nudge-nudge, wink-wink mode. Her success can be judged by the audience's wholehearted reception in the final celebratory dance. It hardly needs saying that Luca Costigliolo's costumes are both colourful and sumptuous. That is a sine qua non at The Globe. The only reservation is that on entrance, the green-clad Benedick might strike some as looking rather like a sandy-bearded leprechaun. The final question must be would this production have been better with a mixed gender cast? The answer is probably yes, although the ideal might be to go for limited cross-dressing in three or four parts. Having said that, this Much Ado is a real joy to behold as it concentrates on the humour of the play to great effect and the patent delight of its audience.
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