This is our third visit to an ELSF production in Highams Park. The first year was “Twelfth Night” in blazing sunshine, to the point that we were having to create shade for the kids to sit in:
Last year was “Romeo and Juliet” and it was a little damp around the edges:
What would it be this year? As we sat on the train home from church, watching the torrential rain, I wasn’t feeling optimistic. Neither was I as I dashed home to grab umbrellas and camping chairs while Roo babysat my halloumi fries in V’s Burgers. But we were hardened Shakespeare goers and Eva is now a part of the ELSF youth theatre so we were determined to be supportive, whatever the weather.
The unlikely outcome is that the rain stopped on the way up to the lake and only resumed at the curtain call. I know! I wasn’t expecting that either. We didn’t have anything that would prepare us for hot weather – no suncream or cold drinks – yet here we were in sun-soaked Messina, as promised by the promotional material. I must admit I had said a few times I was expecting it to be soaked-soaked than sun-soaked but in answer to Beatrice, yes I will eat my word. Here’s how it looked just before the start of the show:
And apart from a few light spots of rain during the first wedding scene, the sun carried on throughout. We did not use the umbrellas and we did need cold drinks in the interval. I take it all back.
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
So with the skies clearing and the technical issues sorted, what happened next? What went down in Sunny Messina? Well, ELSF productions always take a few liberties with the Bard so there was an opening sequence in an airport that might not have been in the original and there were a few comedy asides that were added in to give it a bit more of a contemporary feel. Oh, and the dance sequences to Dua Lipa and “Mambo Italiano”. The Dua Lipa song is one we dance to in Dance Fitness and someone from my class was there on the front row so we were tempted to jump and add our own moves but you’ll be pleased to know we resisted. Someone next to me did get drafted in to the one-line role of the Sexton though, to much applause.
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
Contemporary costumes and songs aside, it’s actually pretty faithful to the text. Nearly all the dialogue is pure Shakespeare, delivered in a way that makes it accessible and relatable. The bantz between Beatrice and Benedick in the opening scene is up there as some of Shakespeare’s snappiest dialogue, rivalling the Hermia and Helena fight in the speed-punning event. Ursula Early as Beatrice and Kieran Garland as Benedick do not disappoint and you can really feel the tension between them. I will say at this point that I’m never convinced by the prospect of B&B as a long-term couple….it’s all very well to have an enemies to friends trope but I feel like the events of the play don’t really alter Leonato’s prediction that “if they were but a week married, they would talk themselves mad”. Still, the love-hate dynamic makes for an entertaining show.
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
I always think it’s a bit futile nitpicking Shakespeare but this plot more than any makes no sense at all. The motivation of Don John to mess with Claudio and Hero is cloudy at best and without that drama, there really would be very little plot at all. But that’s fine and all part of the experience of watching a Shakespeare comedy. You have to accept that all siblings look identical, all Friars suggest faking your own death and all long lost families will eventually be reunited. Then you can relax and just enjoy the ridiculousness of it all.
Speaking of Claudio and Hero, I must give a shout out to Isambard Rawbone and Londiwe Mthembu who played the couple with tenderness and wide-eyed innocence. Neither character gets huge amounts of depth in the script so there isn’t much to work with but Hero was a joy to watch throughout and Claudio suitably lovelorn apart from that bit where he inexplicably decides to publicly humiliate her. Dang, I said I wasn’t going to nitpick didn’t I?
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
You’ll notice the sunshiny palate in all of these cast photos, which gave the production the feeling of summer even if the sun itself hadn’t done us the courtesy of rocking up. Deck chairs, cocktails and even a swimming pool added to the holiday vibe. Don’t ask how they made Benedick swim but it was a hilarious highlight. Thinking about it, it might have been a river instead of a pool but still, it was an impressive feat to recreate in the park.
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
Physical comedy was an important part of the show, especially as there is so much of the plot that involves people hiding while other people pretend not to have seen them. That opens up all kinds of possibilities with hatches, bushes and watering cans and ELSF took every opportunity going, even involving the audience in asking to help them hide. This makes it visual enough for the smaller members of the audience to enjoy, while not detracting from the plot in any way. It must be exhausting to perform such a physical show so many times over a weekend but the actors showed no signs of flagging. Maybe they were powered by the sunshine.
© YIODA NICHOLAOU
Aside from the two main couples, there were four other actors – Alistair Brown as Don John and the Friar, Lauren Hendricks as Don Pedro and Margaret, Natasha Mula as Conrade, Messenger and Ursula and Paul Willcocks as Leonato and Borachio. The four other actors were also doubling up in the scenes with the Watch so everyone was working pretty hard, especially with the multiple costume changes and a green room that’s basically just a tree. Lauren Hendricks also sang most of the linking songs and did so beautifully. Sigh no more, ladies. It did take me a while to realise that they’d gender-swapped Don Pedro’s character as I just assumed it was a girl playing the part of a man – coming from a girls’ school, I always had to play the men’s parts. My Year 8 Shylock was legendary. But after a few references to Don John’s sister wooing Hero confused me, I finally clocked. It did work in terms of the plot but I’m clearly not that quick. Like Snug, I am slow of study.
The ensemble worked well together, switching between all those parts seamlessly and bursting into a hip hop rap every now and then just to shake things up a bit. The airport scene at the beginning paid off at the end when the final scene between Benedick and Beatrice became a Richard Curtis-esque dash to the airport. In the script, I seem to remember Beatrice is just kinda standing there and Benedick takes her mask off….but this was much more fun.
And fun is what this production is all about. It’s not to be taken too seriously – it’s Shakespeare for the bawdy masses, just as the original performances would have been. The audience were politely sipping Prosecco rather than jugs of ale but it’s the same vibe. I always regret not taking a full picnic as the people next to us had but there’s always next year. Fingers crossed they’ll be lucky with the weather again.
Of course, by the time we were walking home via the ice cream van it was raining again. But what else do you expect in the London summer? As Will himself said: “The spring, the summer, the childing autumn, angry winter, change their wonted liveries, and the mazed world, by their increase, now knows not which is which”
But I call this season ice cream and umbrellas season:
“Much Ado About Nothing” continues to tour through July and into August. Click here for tickets and more info. No disclaimer needed as I paid for the tickets but all opinions remain honest and my own.
