05/04/2014

Much Ado About Nothing

Bell Shakespeare, 2011
Photo by Wendy McDougall for Bell Shakespeare.
Directed by John Bell, Shakespeare’s battle-of-the-wits (and -sexes), suitably played by Toby Schmitz and Blazey Best, erupted in a riot of triumph, colour and joy, set in a mid-twentieth century Italian villa. Beatrice and Benedict’s verbal sparring was a match for their physical antics, and as they fell for each other despite their best intentions and the infidelity plot untangled, you felt the passions, the heart and the life at the centre of Shaksespeare’s great verbal duel.