★★★★

“never a dull moment in this energetic and above all entertaining show”

Tom Wentworth’s version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing promises a ‘sashay into the Golden Age of Hollywood’ but does the filmset backdrop stick in this brand new adaptation?

After the loss of Arts Council funding, the Watermill has been named Theatre of the Year by the Stage and the National Theatre. This accolade reflects the reputation of the Watermill Ensemble for innovative shows which often feature highly talented casts of actor-musicians. This production is directed by Paul Hart, who co-leads the theatre. He has assembled a cast of 11 gleeful performers who fill the small stage with energetic sparkle. Musical direction is by Robin Colyer.

You may remember a 1993 film version starring what was then British theatre’s ultimate power couple, Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson. They were shoe-ins for the sparring roles of Beatrice and Benedick, who get some of Shakespeare’s funniest wordplay. In this show, Katherine Jack had tremendous presence as Beatrice (‘Oh! That I were a man!’), matched by James Mack’s buffoonish Benedick, who makes the most of the slapstick comedy that runs through the show. Jack Quarton is an impressive Don Pedro, as well as being central to the musical numbers throughout. The vibe is mambo, with plenty of up tempo percussion and some fabulous brass sounds.

As well as being an actor, Hayden Wood is an experienced director, musician and composer, last seen at the Watermill in ‘Notes from A Small Island’. As his engaging performance as Dogberry irrestibly suggests, he also tours globally as Basil in a Faulty Towers tribute show. Priscilla Grace brings tunes like ‘When I Fall in Love’ to splendid life, and Fred Double makes a fine Claudio to Thulis Magwaza’s blushing Hero. In last night’s show Leigh Quinn took the parts of Verges, Conrade and the Friar and Patrick Bridgman, who appeared in the final season of The Crown, was Leonato. In a successful gender-blind casting, Augustina Seymour is a wonderfully vampish Don John.

Although much of the play is as fizzy as champagne, there are some darker themes. There’s deceitfulness, a woman accused of dishonour, and a feigned death. These are somewhat lightly brushed over. The film set backdrop switches in whenever a recorded soundtrack starts up, in scenes which pastiche the hammy acting of 1940s Hollywood. There’s a symbolic camera on stage and some lighting kit too.

There’s never a dull moment in this energetic and above all entertaining show.

Burke & Hare

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed – 30th November 2018

★★★½

“A quiet night in the West End this is not. And quite right too. For what could be more festive than death, deceit and intrigue?”

Messrs William Burke and Hare have passed into mythology as notorious grave robbers who turned a profit in 1820s Scotland flogging corpses to medical schools. Tom Wentworth’s comic script revisits their tale, claiming to be an ‘objective’ rendering, ‘rooted firmly in reality’. But those seeking an authoritative retelling of Burke and Hare’s story need not apply. This is history played for laughs – a mission very successfully achieved.

Indeed, there’s frank admission of the history’s slipperiness throughout. The opening scene sees the actors in and out of character, clamouring to rehabilitate the reputations of their respective roles. This also serves as a handy introduction to this micro-cast of three.

Such lean staffing certainly leaves nowhere to hide, but this strong ensemble pull it off. Impeccable comic timing delivers laugh-out-loud moments, with Alex Parry and Hayden Wood especially effective as the dastardly duo.

Also strong, Katy Daghorn as, well, almost everyone else, at times comes off a touch mannered. As with all the actors here, her ready command of accents is impressive but her physicality can feel awkward. This is a small niggle, though, given the dexterity shown by this apparently tireless trio in what must be an exhausting performance.

The cast canter through a merry repertoire of Victorian Edinburgh’s finest. Indeed, real fun is had with the limits of a three-person cast in a confined space. One gag sees the cast stumped when they realise that, all on stage, they are without a corpse. Considerable charm is applied by Wood and a conscript found: sit on the front row at your peril.

This quip wears thinner in an extended sequence in the second half, but Parry’s shattering performance of every member of an extended family group is nonetheless impressive. This retold joke, though, perhaps eats into time that might have been better spent unravelling the tail-end of the narrative a little more; the conclusion is upon us with little warning and the outcome of the eventual criminal trial feels rushed.

Every resource is put to work to create atmosphere and place in this tiny theatre. This includes intelligent uses of music and sound, such as the metronome set ticking as we wait for yet another lodger to shuffle off this mortal coil. Mention must also be made of the cast’s really beautifully executed close harmonies, from drinking songs to ballads. Lighting, too, is neat, variously suggesting the fug of an Edinburgh street, a sterile anatomy lecture hall and the snug boarding house amongst others.

All in all, Burke and Hare offers surprising levels of merriment for a play about resurrection men. There is balance here – we’re given real menace leading up to and pathos at the death of one key player – but the night rattles along at a fair pace. A quiet night in the West End this is not. And quite right too. For what could be more festive than death, deceit and intrigue?

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the Watermill Theatre

★★★★

“never a dull moment in this energetic and above all entertaining show”

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the Watermill Theatre

Reviewed on 17th April 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed – 30th November 2018

★★★½

“A quiet night in the West End this is not. And quite right too. For what could be more festive than death, deceit and intrigue?”

Indeed, there’s frank admission of the history’s slipperiness throughout. The opening scene sees the actors in and out of character, clamouring to rehabilitate the reputations of their respective roles. This also serves as a handy introduction to this micro-cast of three.

Such lean staffing certainly leaves nowhere to hide, but this strong ensemble pull it off. Impeccable comic timing delivers laugh-out-loud moments, with Alex Parry and Hayden Wood especially effective as the dastardly duo.

Reviewed by Abi Davies

Photography by Philip Tull

Burke & Hare

Jermyn Street Theatre until 21st December

Our review of the original Watermill production:

Previously reviewed at this venue: