Bringing Shakespeare back to Drury Lane, Jamie Lloyd follows his grey, lacklustre Tempest with his take on Much Ado About Nothing, and it couldn’t be more different: it is a riot of colour and high-energy fun. Swooping spotlights and pounding pop pre-show give a disco vibe and, though the characters wield modern mobiles, the songs he inserts seem more '90s, and Soutra Gilmour’s costumes include hot pants and a miniskirt wedding dress. One thing seems certain: it is cherry blossom time, for the stage is covered in pink, paper petals which frequently cascade from above, with especially heavy downfalls at particular moments.
Love is on the lips from the start, with Mason Alexander Park in party mood singing “Tell It To My Heart”. They are playing Margaret, who seems to be a resident chanteuse in Leonato’s house with a hand mike always at the ready. Park’s delivery of Ariel’s songs was one of the best things in Lloyd’s Tempest, and again they thought in a different style.
Song and dance, sometimes elaborately choreographed, sometimes rapid races across the stage, change the mood or switch to a new scene. This sets a fast pace with the playing loud and lively. Conversations, though already miked, sometimes seem competitions at who can shout loudest, which all adds to the energy.
Lloyd presents the parallel plots of the play very clearly. As the hosts anticipate the arrival of their guests, a group led by grandee Don Pedro, there is talk of the past sparring between Leonato’s independent niece Beatrice and permanent bachelor Benedick, who will be tricked into declaring their love for each other, and the guests have barely arrived before Leonato’s daughter Hero and visitor Claudio clearly fall for each other at first sight.
There is plenty of fun as the two romcom stories develop, though Don Pedro’s spiteful brother John (only recently reconciled with him) will turn happy celebration suddenly sour. Lloyd cuts Shakespeare’s comic constabulary (which speeds things up), replacing their plot contribution in another way.
Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell are well matched as Benedick and Beatrice; you sense their back history. Both pretend to be happy with their current situation, but there is a hint that’s not really true. He puts on a smooth front, she can be fiery. This Benedick certainly knows how to connect with an audience. At their first face-off, he declares, “I am loved of all ladies”, and looking straight out front cups a hand to his ear. The fourth wall simply isn’t there. Both handle Shakespeare’s text with clarity and confidence—indeed, the whole cast play with conviction.
Hiddleston is as comfortable being physically funny. As he overhears the plotters talking about them (as they intend him to), he keeps in range but hides himself in piles of petals, even disappearing down a trap beneath them to pop up elsewhere, or uses a huge, heart-shaped balloon for concealment. In a matching situation, Atwell’s Beatrice stands stock still. Both scenes are hilarious, though perhaps Lloyd goes too far in introducing life-size publicity figures of the actors’ Marvel movie characters.
Shakespeare makes the younger lovers a bland pair, and James Phoon’s Claudio is a callow youth, too readily accepting what he is told by his betters, but Mara Huf is a spirited Hero; once they are married, Claudio will have to watch himself.
Gerald Kyd is an intriguing Don Pedro (is there more to the kiss that he gives his protege Claudio?), while Tim Steed gives Don Jon a rather sinister campness to hide his discomfiture with Mika Onyx Johnson, rather less evil as his sidekick Borachio. Phillip Olagoke brings calm reason as the priest who helps bring a happy ending. Forbes Masson’s Leonato isn’t the sober father figure that Shakespeare’s comedies tend to feature. He seems the life and soul of his own party. I hope he invites me to his next one.
Meanwhile, under the noise and the dazzle, Shakespeare’s play stays intact—well, almost, and the cuts help tell the story clearly.