Review #7

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 

[Wyndham Theatre]

  

Premiered: 2011

Director: Josie Rourke

Starring: Catherine Tate & David Tennant

Grade: A

 

I'm heading a bit off the beaten path for this week's review, moving from films to filmed theatre. First a little backstory on how this review came to be. I've recently become interested in (read: obsessed with) Doctor Who. For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is a British sci-fi TV show about a 900-year-old alien who travels through time and space, romping through history and usually saving the Earth in the process. It premiered in the 1960s and was revamped (or should I say regenerated) in 2005. The Doctor (the only name our main character is given) has the nifty ability to morph into a whole new person if he becomes mortally wounded. This cleverly allowed the show to continue once it lost its lead actor, and means that many different thespians had portrayed the Doctor over the years. The 2005-series has seen three incarnations, with the fan favorite being by-and-large David Tennant. (For the record I've never seen the original series, only the new one. I'm halfway through my first Matt Smith episode so I'll reserve judgment on him. I actually preferred Christopher Eccleston for a long while, but Tennant eventually won me over with his indisputable acting ability.) 

Anyway, all of this geeky-fandom led me to a late-night YouTube search of Tennant videos which in turn led me to this 2011 production of Much Ado About Nothing starring Tennant and his Doctor Who costar Catherine Tate. (The Doctor usually travels with a female companion and Tate was one of my personal favorites.) The play, directed by Josie Rourke, premiered at the Wyndham Theatre in London’s West End. This production was staged after both Tate and Tennant had left Doctor Who and was largely built around the excitement of reuniting these two former costars. They have undeniably great chemistry, which you can get a sense of in this sketch from Comic Relief, a British charity that combats poverty.

I'm a theatre person myself so it was really only a matter of time before I ended up with a theatre review on this blog and Shakespeare seems like a good place start. Tennant and Tate star as Benedick and Beatrice, the spatting lovers of Much Ado About Nothing and probably my favorite characters in the Shakespeare canon. It was a combination too good to pass up so I spent $13 to download a filmed version of the play from Digital Theatre, a small database of British drama. Filmed plays are often hit-or-miss in terms of the quality of filming, but thankfully this one was beautifully executed, balancing long shots with close-ups to give a sense of both theatrical scope and cinematic intimacy. $13 is a bit steep for a film, but much cheaper than a theatre ticket so I guess I can't really complain. 

Although I love Beatrice and Benedick, I wouldn't name Much Ado as one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. Quite honestly, I find most of the material that doesn't feature B&B to be boring and convoluted. There's a secondary couple named Claudio and Hero, some bad guys, and a weird set of comic-relief characters. The plot features revelry, mistaken identity, public shaming, a faked-death, and an all-to-easy happy ending. To me though, the play belongs to B&B, two people locked in a battle of wits that just barely masks their love.

I would credit this play with providing the DNA of 75% of modern romantic comedies. You can see traces of Beatrice and Benedick in When Harry Met Sally, The Philadelphia Story, and His Girl Friday. Gossip Girl's Chuck and Blair are pretty much modern-day clones of B&B transplanted in the Upper East Side (which sounds like the plot of a Doctor Who episode.) Shakespeare's 16th century sexual tension holds up remarkably well and the zings between B&B never get old (this is the third production of Much Ado I've seen.) This production is set, for no apparent reason, in the 1980s in a villa in Gibraltar. It's all a bit Ood, I mean odd, but the 80s costumes are fun and add a certain extra levity to the proceedings.

Tennant and Tate are, in a word, "brilliant." (Or "fantastic" if you prefer the 9th Doctor's catch phrase.) It's easy to fall into a few traps when performing Shakespeare. One is to really hit the verse and highlight operative words. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; I feel like most Shakespearean productions use this technique with varying levels of success. The other extreme is to ignore the verse altogether and make the dialogue incredibly colloquial, overemphasizing the modernity to prove how "accessible" Shakespeare can be. Thankfully, Tennant and Tate avoid both extremes and manage to make the dialogue feel entirely natural without losing its rhythms. Tennant, in particular, has a remarkable talent for not overplaying the language. His words seem to come from an entirely instinctual place. He obviously has lots of respect for the verse as well and I found myself noticing internal rhymes I'd missed in other productions. (Gallifrey must have a great drama school.)

In addition to their verbal mastery, Tennant and Tate are both pros at physical comedy and this production makes good use of that. There are some brilliantly staged sequences

featuring Beatrice and Benedick eavesdropping. The physical comedy sometimes verges on becoming too broad, but the actors are so game that they manage to sell some rather ridiculous material (at one point Tate is literal hoisted into the air and dangles above the scene below.) It's a zany screwball (or should I say sonic screwdriver) of a production that borders on the melodramatic when it tries to apply the same high energy to its more serious scenes. Thankfully most of the 2 hour and 40 minute run time is dedicated to hijinks.  

The cast all around is strong, with Adam James (as Don Pedro) making a particularly nice impression. It's really Tennant and Tate's show however, and it's thrilling to see the Doctor-Donna reunited once again. They bring self-awareness to their characters; Beatrice and Benedick know they're smart and funny. This is pretty standard for any B&B portrayal, but Tennant and Tate bring an extra level of nuance. There is a certain sadness about both characters, a sense that their intelligence and wit has made it hard for them to relate to other people. They have both sworn off love, partly because they are afraid that no one could ever really be their equal. Tennant and Tate infuse their performances with just enough vulnerability to balance out the camp of the production.

Lest you think I'm just blinded by residual love for a great television pairing, my roommate (who has never seen Doctor Who) was also enthralled by both performers. Tate is known in Britain as a comedienne (and is currently starring on the US version of The Office), but she's a really gifted actor as well. She's not afraid to make herself unattractive (some frumpy Act One costumes don't help) and she commits full force to any material she's given. 

I really just can't say enough good things about Tennant. He's effortless on stage, totally comfortable in his body, and lives in each moment in a way that makes it all seem easy. His timing is spectacular and he exudes charm behind a wacky grin. It's also very commendable how different Benedick is from the Doctor. Tennant is a real chameleon of a performer (or should I say chameleon circuit.) It helps that he uses his natural Scottish accent here (he uses an estuary English one on the TV show), but beyond that he brings an entirely different energy to Benedick. Even though both characters have a zest for life, there is no mistaking one for the other. Benedick has a laid-back, party-boy vibe with a bit of lovesickness thrown in for good measure. After three seasons of watching him as a Time Lord with the weight of the world on his shoulders, it's fun to see Tennant loosen up a bit. 

What I enjoy most about this production is the way Beatrice and Benedick just seem overwhelmed with the idea that they love one another. Their own emotions catch them off guard, sending them reeling away from one another at the same moment they are drawn together. It's goofy and shouldn't work as well as it does, but Tennant and Tate just seem so weird (I mean that in the best way), that it makes sense that their relationship would be weird as well. They are two people who can't really relate to anyone but each other and it's fun for the audience to watch them begrudgingly make that realization. 

I think I'll stick with rom coms for the foreseeable future, but it was nice to take a bit of a TARDIS adventure to the world of Shakespeare. (All right, I promise to stop with the Doctor Who references.) I highly recommend this version of Much Ado for anyone who is a fan of comedy, Shakespeare or good acting. This production gives you all three in a beautiful staged, beautifully filmed package with a truly spectacular pairing of actors.