Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Open Bar Theatre

Even if this summer has been a bit of a washout, there's much sunshine to be had at Open Bar Theatre's touring production of Much Ado About Nothing.

A cast of six work incredibly hard to bring the story of merriment and mischief to life. Elizabeth Peace and Open Bar Theatre stalwart Thomas Judd have nicely spiky chemistry as Beatrice and Benedick, showing easy wit and sharply-delivered dialogue.

Peace is great in the role, never pushing the sarcasm too far and makes Beatrice all the more relatable for it. Judd is, as ever, a natural showman, who gives Benedick depth as a confirmed bachelor and then touching vulnerability as he realises his love for Beatrice. His dour portrayal of Verges is also very funny.

Peace's portrayal of Don John is less impactful; a hard character to get under the skin of, his moody demeanour is not given any real depth or meaning.

Paula Gilmour is very entertaining as Dogberry and suitably sweet and shy as Hero, really coming out of herself as she plots to bring Beatrice and Benedick together. Her chemistry with Micah Loubon's too-quiet Claudio is less convincing, with Loubon's amusing portrayal of the drunken Borachio more successful.

A vibrant Laura Harling has great fun as the saucy Margaret and brings warm joviality to the role of Leonato. Laura Cooper-Jones is commanding as Don Pedro and energetic as Hero's confidante Ursula.

Shakespeare's romcom is most successful when the comedy is dialled up to the max, as seen in this summer's Globe production. Nicky Diss' production has moments of real comedy, such as Benedick's slapstick attempts to hide while overhearing how much Beatrice loves him. However, the rest of the production doesn't always hit the same levels of fun; this means the “merry war” between the two sets of young lovers has less playfulness and when the tone abruptly changes at Hero's denouncement, the shock is less impactful. In addition, some of Dogberry's overly-long scenes could be cut down to improve the flow of the show.

Open Bar Theatre always make the most of very limited space. The set from their recent production of Vanity Fair made use of every nook and cranny of the set. Here, the set-up is less inventive, with simple garlands of purple flowers and lemons threaded onto a three-tier scaffold to convey the heat and vitality of Messina, although the light-up cross to convey the chapel scenes is good fun.

This may not be the very best production of Much Ado this year, but it's always impressive what Open Bar Theatre can portray in a pub garden. You could do a lot worse than spend an entertaining evening in their excellent company.

Open Bar Theatre's Much Ado About Nothing is touring Fuller's pubs until 13 September

Their production of The Tempest is also touring until 31 August

Photo Credits: Robert Grooms

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