 | Much Ado About Nothing |  |
"What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living?" Act I, scene i
Written: 1599
Stratford Festival of Canada ; August 3, 2006 Stratford, Canada
Director : Marti Maraden ; Starring : Paul Soles, Gary Reineke, Jeffrey Wetsch, Adrienne Gould, Peter Donaldson, Lucy Peacock
Reviewed on : 2006-08-04 22:08:56 ; Reviewed by : Antonia Mandry
| “I didn’t remember how sad it was,” quoth a student after seeing the production of Much Ado About Nothing last night in Stratford. Indeed, there are moments of great gravitas that in some ways were completely lost in the production whether it be from the largely student-filled audience’s ignorance of the play or from such light-heartedness in the cast that even the darkest moment was lightened.
It’s a small quibble in an otherwise remarkable production. Stepping in for Stephen Ouimette, Marti Maraden offers up deft direction which causes the stage to come alive as Messina, Italy. A theme of darkness and light runs throughout the production. The look is all cream linen and the summer colours of pre-World War I Italy. During the masque sequence, the cream Chinese lanterns and pastel palette is set off by the darkly comic animal masks which emphasize the theme of pretense. Don John even has a dark suit jacket to set him apart from the other characters.
Maraden directs the garden scenes (always a director’s favorite sequence) with a deft touch but her best moment comes in the masque where the dancing does not interrupt the dialogue but facilitates it with each conversation’s speakers taking their turn at the head of a rotating, dancing circle.
Lucy Peacock, with her luxuriant smile, plays Beatrice with ramrod posture. Even when bent over hiding in the bushes, her back is straight not hunched. Her Beatrice thrives in the world whose rules she knows and when the world is turned upside down, first by the love game between her and Benedick and second by the rejection of Hero, Beatrice is at a loss and becomes less witty and more direct.
Benedick is no less a match for her, both in age and wit. Peter Donaldson punctuates his lines with pauses and drops his voice to maximum effect; the delight he takes in the part apparent in every word.
The three generations in the play are evinced by the youthful Adrienne Gould and Jeffrey Wetsch as the youthful lovers, Peacock and Donaldson as the Autumn Lovers, and finally Gary Reineke and Paul Soles as the aged worthies: Leonato and Antonio. There was much speculation about why Donaldson and Peacock, advanced in years, were cast to play Beatrice and Benedick (commonly played in their 30s). The criticism is unfounded and ridiculous. There is no textual evidence that they must be a specific age and the casting gives a new layer of meaning to the play: age is no guarantee of wisdom when it comes to love.
A genuine delight, this production had the audience roaring with laughter and stamping their feet with joy: a sure sign of a successful performance.
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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
Beatrice and Benedick
Reviews
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March 2, 2008 |  | Redshift Theatre at UH Arts
October 17, 2007 | | Pirate Utopia
November 15, 2006 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 3, 2006 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
May 22, 2006 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
December 19, 2005 |  | BBC TV
November 7, 2005 |  | Signal Ensemble Theatre
August 23, 2003 |  | Spandauer Sommerfestspiele
1998 |
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