Theatre Review: Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
A Mermaids Production
Barron Theatre, St Andrews
10/11/24-11/11/24
Directed by Riley Christian
Produced by Jackson Banner-Robinson
Written by William Shakespeare
Review by Lexie Dykes
Walking into the Barron last night, I was welcomed into the warm and sunny state of “California” set with lush pink lighting and the music of Blur and Toploader. From then on, I knew this production of Much Ado About Nothing would be good fun. And it was! How refreshing and exciting it was to watch a Mermaids production with a cast I largely didn’t recognise; I am starting to feel very fourth year with many actors I know having graduated now. Riley Christian’s direction must be applauded. Too often I have seen (and been a part of) student productions of Shakespeare that simply just don’t do much with the text apart from have actors say it. Christian keeps it interesting to this primarily student audience because we know the play really is the kind of enemies to lovers, friends-setting up, rom-com we all know and love. This is a quirky high-school boozy summer holiday reunion that has the kind of energy of the National Theatre’s 1930s Italian Riviera version. The great costume design expressed an 80s kind of aesthetic with characters wearing lots of double denim, leather, band t-shirts and sunglasses. Characters often wonderfully walk onstage scrolling through their phones, idly chewing gum or swigging from the end of a bottle of wine. Nice blocking and a strong and frequent emphasis on movement keeps scenes plodding along. I especially loved Ursula and Hero played by Margo Anderson and Libby Mullen in their lululemon attire doing yoga whilst planting the idea of Benedick’s love to the spying Beatrice.
Charley Beck is perfectly dry and sarky as the witty Beatrice. I wanted some more varied delivery from her, but this was strongly realised through a more emotional and sincere performance of Beatrice’s concern and care for her cousin in the second half. She plays wonderfully off Freddie Crawford who I must say, was a truly brilliant Benedick. Endearing and with great comedic instinct, his little out of text additions were not irritating but hilarious choices, like telling Elodie Bain who follows him around with his book to ‘piss off’ when hiding from Claudia (yes, Claudia!) played by Alice Polgrean and Don Pedro played by Thea Kendall-Green. When stumbling upon Claudia in a military jacket Benedick said, ‘Hello Countess Cheryl Cole’ (which truly cracked me up). Crawford uses physicality well, often running around or dramatically crawling through the audience (in the sort of melodramatic way Andrew Scott plays Gary Essendine in Present Laughter). Indeed, Christian uses the whole space and some slight audience interactions which give the whole play a panto quality which really worked. It’s a very playful and silly production with a dynamic touch.
And yet in the second half, much of the cast navigated the more serious and emotional scenes in convincing ways. Performances weren’t awkwardly different or jarring but poignantly contrasting. Crawford’s stylised physicality in the first half was parked for naturalism. Sometimes there’s nothing more powerful an actor can do than stand still, and it was a nice counter to Beatrice’s emotional pacing after Hero’s public shaming. Claudia was doting and loving, then convincingly mistakenly bitter in the second half alongside Don Pedro. The first marriage scene I found moving and intense, especially with Hero’s very convincing reactions, but the gay storyline, a very exciting choice between Hero and Claudia, does inadvertently end up sacrificing the important and obvious male inflicted misogyny that is central to the narrative and play’s themes.
The use of music was inspired in this production, with impressive performances from Lila Patterson and Anderson who kicked off the second half with a duet. I was initially baffled by the (first) dance routine to Voulez Vouz at the masked costume party, but I quickly got over myself. It made the drama of encounters with muddled identities and between numerous lovers very energetic and enjoyable. Some drunk acting following this was questionable, but isn’t it always? Benedick trying and failing to write a song about Beatrice was a great moment—funny with a touch of the St Andrews artsy soft-boy type about it. Lila Patterson as Borachio and Phoenix Carlson as Don John were wonderfully villainous, often lit in sickly green light. Patterson’s confession of their evil doings was very well performed. I mustn’t forget to note the scene stealer, which is Lila Ahnger as Dogberry, a randomly French comic officer who transformed what could have been boring scenes we slog through in Act II into laugh-out-loud moments, one of which was accompanied by a goofy PowerPoint presentation. Projection was at times lousy, a shame because the dialogue is just too good and witty to not be heard, but I must congratulate the cast on their pretty strong and natural delivery of complicated language and syntax throughout. The energy is always kept up which is no mean feat for a play about two and a half hours long.
This is a true ensemble production with every actor pulling their weight and genuinely listening and reacting to those around them. It’s such a joy to watch a cast have fun and to hear the crew laugh along; they really did seem to be enjoying themselves. And so, even slight breaks in character and minor things going wrong were not unprofessional but really charming.
