Impeccable performances delight
The Court Theatre’s Much Ado About Nothing proves removing Shakespeare from the New Zealand school curriculum was a silly, embarrassing mistake.
In the show’s programme The Court’s chief executive, Philip Aldridge, describes the ‘‘educational Lords and Masters’’ of New Zealand as ‘‘stony-hearted villains, bloody-minded blinking idiots, foolish and shortsighted knaves’’. I could not agree more. ‘‘At The Court we will be more regularly programming his work,’’ Aldridge writes.
It is good to see rebellion still exists within the arts.
Much Ado About Nothing is a sheer delight to the senses. The set, designed by Julian Southgate, is astonishing and wonderfully intricate yet, at no point, do scene changes feel awkward or drawn-out.
The play, one of Shakespeare’s great comical works, is set in the Sicilian town of Messina and tells the tale of yearning lovers Hero and Claudio and decidedly single duo Beatrice and Benedick. Lizzie Tollemache, as Hero, and Kyle Chuen, as Claudio, play their roles perfectly and the interaction between them is genuinely romantic.
Claudio and Hero fall in love and are due to be married until Claudio is tricked into thinking his bride-to-be has been unfaithful.
He shames Hero at the altar, publicly accusing her of being with another man and her father, Leonato, feigns her death until the truth is revealed. Lisa Chappell and Roy Snow, as Beatrice and Benedick, were made for each other.
The pair’s ‘‘merry war’’ of words is the very essence of the play.
Their dialogue is delivered with impeccable timing. The show sparkles when they are on stage and their bickering builds to amatter-of-fact confession of love.
At this point, I found myself nearing the edge of my seat, thinking, ‘‘please kiss her Benedick!’’. And he did. And it made me smile.
The musical score, composed by Luke Di Somma, is stunning and makes the scene changes fluid and enjoyable. His melodies sweep the audience into 16th century Sicily and set the tone flawlessly.
Every cast member performed soundly. Dogberry, played by Tom Trevella, and Verges, played by David Ladderman, are remarkably funny. Ladderman engages the audience before they have even taken their seats and comes back for more at every opportunity.
Much Ado About Nothing is gorgeous viewing and should be compulsory, especially for school students.