Review: Much Ado About Nothing at The Sumner, Southbank Theatre

Review by Greg Gorton

Despite its flaws, Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing is going to be remembered as one of the funniest versions of the play you could see. This is almost entirely due to the most phenomenal cast I’ve seen on the Sumner stage.

Much Ado About Nothing is Shakespeare’s wittiest play. No cross-dressing or magic, just really clever lines thrown back and forth along with the dumbest rom-com plot you can think of. For a long time, productions focussed heavily on the rom-com aspect, letting the majority of the comedy be in the dialogue alone. However, like many Shakespearean productions lately, MTC’s take says, “Why can’t the action be just as comedic?” And, for the most part, it makes for great laughs.

The core set for this play is the exterior of a smartly-designed two-storey beach house, with sliding doors on both floors. Almost the entirety of the play is set here, and as a central piece it works quite well. However, there are elements of the design and direction of use that have me scratching my head. For example, the wings are open for viewing as the small cast rapid-change costumes, and backstage people come and go, even into the centre of the stage. At least once an actor gets changed directly in front of the audience. Adding to this, a large prop which is the focus of the opening “image” is removed, only to appear again once and with zero recognition from the cast. I’m sure these elements had meaning to them, but it was beyond me.

It was a little unfortunate for me that the opening night act one, scene one started off quite poorly. Lines were dropped, actors looked uncomfortable about their blocking, and the costumes looked like they had been taken from the remains of a community theatre production. This issue with the costumes continued, even though the use of Elizabethan garb for a masquerade ball contained some element of creativity.

Fortunately, it took very little time for the actors to get into the groove, and so began a night filled with laughter and fun, almost entirely due to brilliant acting and early choices about how characters would be portrayed. John Shearman’s Prince is fantastic as a trust-fund playboy, and Fayssal Bazzi breathes life into a Benedick that isn’t half as cool as he wants to be. For those who come for the Beatrice and Benedick show, you won’t be disappointed by the sparks between Bazzi and Alison Bell, nor the sensitivity that they highlight in her character.

The star of the show according to the audience was Julie Forsyth, playing multiple characters including the well-loved Dogberry, but I was much more impressed by Chanella Macri. Macri really dissolved into her quite different roles, from the witty Margaret to the pantomime villain of Don John. Her comic timing is impeccable and I’ll now be obsessed about seeing whatever show she appears in next.

While almost every cast member for Much Ado About Nothing played multiple roles, and quite brilliantly, some of the decisions made regarding characters (and therefore the scenes they were in) were quite odd. For a play that has put laughter as its primary goal, it became all the more icky to see Miela Anich’s Hero presented with so much weakness, and for it to be heavily implied that she was sexually harrassed by the Prince. Likewise, while Claudio is often played as a straight man, there were many missed opportunities for Remy Heremaia to stretch his comedy muscles. On a night of highjinks, I was sad to find three scenes were almost devoid of comedy, leaving the play fractured - almost as if I was seeing two directors work on separate scenes without communication between them.

This underdevelopment is seen in other areas, as well. While sound cues and music for this show really heightened the tone, there appeared to be little attention given to the opportunities for creative lighting design.

In the end, I realise that if not for a single factor, MTC’s Much Ado About Nothing could have been a failure - a mediocre offering no better than a cheap school production. However, the incredible character work, bolstered by the best comic actors I have seen from this company, makes this a show that I really have to encourage you to see. In fact, I’d argue that this show is the perfect way to introduce your tweens to Shakespeare, or to go if you yourself was never convinced by his reported genius.

Image Credit: Gregory Lorenzutti