Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 2nd May 2015
The University of Adelaide
Theatre Guild has turned, once again, to the multi-award winning director, Megan Dansie, to tackle Shakespeare's comedy,
Much Ado About Nothing. She has previously directed
Richard III and
Romeo and Juliet, as well as
Martin McDonagh's
The Pillowman, resulting in the receipt of several Adelaide Critics Circle Awards both for herself and for this company. That dynamic duo of Dansie and The Bard has been a boon to the Guild, and another pairing was hardly unexpected.
At the centre of this play are two entirely different couples. Claudio and Hero are deeply in love and cannot wait to be married, but the evil Don John wants to prevent their union. Benedick and Beatrice cannot stand the sight of each other, but their friends and relations think otherwise and they conspire to fool them into thinking that they are each secretly loved by the other in an effort to bring them to the realisation that it is actually true.
Originally set in 16th Century Messina, a Sicilian port, this production is located in 1945, post WWII England, in the garden of Leonarto's country house, 'Messina', with troops returning home. Most of them are Army and a few, including Don John, are RAF.
Leonarto is played by Tony Busch, who brings a commanding presence to the role. Socially, he is second only to Don Pedro, played by Gary George, who also carries himself with great dignity. Don John is the illegitimate brother of Don Pedro, and envious of everything that he is and that he has.
Brad Martin revels in the role of the villain, standing quietly aside, observing and plotting like a spider spinning its web. Joshua Coldwell is his henchman, Borachio, a schemer who uses his lover, Margaret, to fool everybody into believing Hero to be unfaithful. Coldwell convinces, as a man who would willingly ruin a woman's reputation for money and advancement. Beatrice Blackwell plays Margaret, who is one of Hero's servants, well-meaning but not well-educated, like Ursula, Hero's ladies maid, played by Georgia Stockham.
Hero is Leonarto's daughter and Beatrice is his niece, the daughter of Antonio, and Hero's cousin. Beatrice professes that she has no desire to marry and is happier without a man in her life and Bronwyn Palmer is simply marvellous in the role of the witty and often caustic tongued young woman. Hero, however, is the antithesis of her cousin, and falls in love at first sight when she meets Claudio. Olivia Lilburn plays the gentle Hero, delightfully filling out her character with the winning qualities that capture Claudio, charm, good humour and devotion. Steve Marvanek produces another of his strong performances, as Antonio.
Claudio and Benedick have been fighting under Don Pedro and he treats them both as his friends. Claudio has distinguished himself in the war, but it is not this alone that makes Hero fall for him. Alex Antoniou presents Claudio as a brave and bold young man, upright and steadfast, but he neatly shows Claudio's jealous side that leads to problems. From their first glance, Lilburn and Antoniou make a strong emotional connection as Hero and Claudio. Adam Tuominen presents another excellent characterisation as the smart talking Benedick, joking and punning but not quite hiding the better side of Benedick's nature.
Miriam Keane takes the role of Balthasar, a singer and musician, contributing a couple os superbly sung pieces to the performance. Jack Robins, as Friar Francis, Anthony Vawser as Sexton, and Nicholas Clippingdale as the Messenger, add to this commendable cast.
Borachio is overheard talking to Conrad, played by Matt Houston, another of Don John's confidants, of his nefarious work in bringing about the defamation of Hero, and he is brought down by the most inept group that you could imagine, the City Watch, who are dressed as ARP Wardens.
They are led by Dogberry, played by
Lindsay Dunn, assisted by Verges, played by Angela Short, his shadow and 'yes man'. Madison Kirby and Rose Harvey complete his collection of Keystone Cops. Dunn makes a very fine Dogberry, pompous and trying to be the equal of his superiors but, like Mrs. Malaprop, his use of words of more than one syllable often mean the opposite of what he intended.
All of this action takes place in the semicircular performing area, which is covered in fake turf, with five shrubs in tubs in a row at the rear. They were brought a shrubbery. Designer, Mark Reynolds also added a balustrade edged balcony that overlooks the garden. Lighting Designer,
Richard Parkhill, has worked hard with the lighting design to create a considerable range of times of days and night. B. F. Henry-Edwards has been very busy coming up with all of the costumes and cannot be overlooked in a review, and Lauren Scarfe's choreography also forms a large part of the performance.
This is another winning production of one of Shakespeare's plays that the Guild can be very happy with, and should please any theatregoer. The Guild has a good reputation so early booking is highly recommended.
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