Season 56 Play 8 – Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Directed by
Cast
Leonato Governor of Messina – Gordon Sugden
Beatrice an orphan, Leonato’s niece – Anna Yeadon
Hero Leonato’s daughter – Alison Broadley
Ursula Leonato’s sister – Jan Darnbrough
Don Pedro Prince of Arragon – Allan Hollings
Benedick companion to Don Pedro – Paul Chewins
Claudio companion to Don Pedro – John Brownlie
Don John Don Pedro’s bastard brother – Paul Glover
Conrade follower of Don John – Richard Russell
Borachio follower of Don John – Tim Lobley
Margaret attendant on Hero – Katherine Atkinson
Balthasar musician – Tony Reavill
Boy Benedick’s servant – Thomas Jagger
Dogberry Constable in charge of the Watch – Robin Martin
Verges Headborough, Dogberry’s partner in authority – Bruce Grainger
1st Watchman – Leigh Bowman
2nd Watchman – Graeme Holbrough
Sexton – Stephen Mason
Friar Francis – Stuart Farrell
Additional Servants and Watchmen played by Miranda Cooper-Beglin, Jeff Peacock and members of the Backstage teams.
Synopsis
It has been said that ‘Much Ado……’ is the most sociable of Shakespeare’s plays and the first impression is that of a leisurely country house party. The characters relax after their exertions in a recent war and, lacking any pressing responsibilities, engage in the agreeable pursuits of courtship, flirtation, practical joking and deceptions, both deliberate and accidental. The wit sparkles, moods turn on a word or line of music from lightness to near tragedy; but always romance is in the warm air.
Directors Notes
As the recent war is forgotten, thoughts turn to love, and the play contrasts the romantic instantaneous relationship of Hero and Claudio with the stormier courtship of Beatrice and Benedick. Don Pedro cannot resist giving a helping hand to both couples, aided and abetted by others, and this together with the sparkle and wit of Beatrice and Benedick does much to justify the description of the play as a comedy. However, while Don Pedro sets out to create and nurture love, Don John, his bastard brother, seeks to destroy it, and soon the play teeters on the edge of tragedy. Fortunately the play is counterpointed by the ludicrous members of the Night Watch who blunder on the truth, save the day and restore the comedy. Setting the production in the Edwardian period brings the action a little closer to our own time and reminds us of the universality of Shakespeare’s themes. At the same time we are still depicting a society where marriages are arranged, daughters obey their fathers, and women are valued so long as they are rich, virtuous, beautiful and do not say much in public. The apparent stability of this society masks the fact that the foundations are beginning to shake and change is on the way. Beatrice can perhaps be seen as prototype suffragette. The action of the play is full of deceits, lies and misunderstandings. Many of these are harmless and create much of the humour; others are more sinister. As the play ends with the two couples dancing into marriage, Don Pedro is alone contemplating the need to punish his brother and we are aware that tragedy has been averted not through their wisdom, but through what “these shallow fools have brought to light”. We hope this production achieves a balance, enabling the audience to glimpse the darkness which is at the heart of the play, while enjoying fully the richness of the comedy.
