MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Shake-Scene Theatre Company)****

 

By Megan

Link: https://www.patreon.com/shakesceneshakespeare

Available until: Unknown

Lots of theatres are reopening all over the country but there is still lots of online theatre to be enjoyed and one company who has said they will keep going because they are enjoying it so much is Shake-Scene Theatre Company. They have already started their King Henry VI cycle with the final part coming next month. We will be reviewing all three close together like we did with Henry IV.

One of the really brilliant things about digital theatre is that you don’t even have to be on the same continent as the other actors and Much Ado About Nothing has an international cast from all around the UK and the world but they are all there together on the Zoom screen and it all seems so completely normal now. I don’t know when I will go to the theatre again but it will probably feel quite weird to be in the same room as actors.

Much Ado About Nothing is famous for being a comedy and it is like a farce in some ways but it also has characters who are in really serious situations. Especially Hero who has her whole reputation questioned and that was really extra important for a woman then. I think it is really sad what Don John, Borachio and Conrad do. I really like the way this production does go deeply into the emotions as well as doing the comedy. They are also brilliant at creating their own sets and costumes with props and make-up.

It is a really great cast with lots of the regulars. There are some I haven’t seen for a while so it was nice to see them again but it is also really exciting to see new people. Ellie Zeegen was making her Shake-Scene online debut and she was really amazing as Leonato. I hope she appears in more productions. Her characterisation is brilliant and she really made me think about Leonato as a character and how he is affected in ways I haven’t before.

The central characters Beatrice and Benedick are played by Valentina Vinci and Simon Balcon and they are both so good. They have great chemistry. Ms Vinci is glamorous and I love how Beatrice gives Benedick sass but she also puts a lot of emotion into the performance. Mr Balcon’s Benedick is really animated and quite cheeky and if this makes sense and doesn’t sound too rude, he is a character where you can understand why other characters find him annoying but he is still fun to watch and it is fun watching him annoy Beatrice. But he does care about her so you are always rooting for them to get together.

Nell Bradbury is a really lovely and sweet Hero but she has a bit of sparkiness too. Bridget Randolph makes Claudio quite likeable even though he does make an awful mistake. Eugenia Low is really brilliant as Don John, it’s nice having a really miserable evil villain. There are so many other great cast members including Georgia Andrews who is so lovely as Margaret, Larissa Oates who only has a very short appearance as the Boy but is still really hilarious, Fergus Rattigan who is a really powerful and compelling and slightly scary Friar, and Dewi Hughes who makes his Messenger into so much more than someone who brings in a message to move the plot along.

This is a really good production of Much Ado About Nothing. It is very funny but it is more than that.