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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
New Forest Players
Sammy Miller's Motor Cycle Museum
Bashley, New Milton
June 2002

THIS production, which was set in no particular time, was performed with no set and minimal props. Benedick and Claudio arrived on a Harley Davidson, Dogberry on a tricycle and characters’ footwear included trainers and Doc Martens. And the weather was so cold that we might have been sitting outside on a January evening, rather than at the height of summer. Yet thanks to the outstanding performances of three major principals none of that mattered in the slightest.
The gradual coming together of the fiery, spirited Beatrice (Petra McGuire) with would-be lifelong bachelor Benedick (Tom Reah) was superbly portrayed, and the excellent, emotionally charged performance of Nigel Davies brought real passion to Claudio’s longing for Hero (Melanie Frost).
There were lovely characterisations from Roger Monck (Don John) and Laraine Moore (Dogberry), while the young people in the cast showed real promise. However, I did feel that the prosaic delivery by the performers playing Leonato and Don Pedro, not to mention their constantly needed prompts, were disappointing and took the edge off an otherwise fine production.
I was also surprised to see that the programme spelt the playwright’s name minus the final ‘e’, but Shakespeare himself apparently used 14 different spellings so perhaps I shouldn’t complain.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo
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