Much Ado About Nothing

Reviews

Maidens Bowled Over!

Shakespeare didn't play cricket, but if he did, he undoubtedly would have batted for the Blackmore Players who hit six after six in their performance of Much Ado About Nothing.

It was post-match cucumber sandwiches and ginger beer all round at Blackmore Village Hall on 4,5 and 6 October as the classic comedy was transported, from Sicily in the 1600's, to a home county's cricket club in the 1960's.

Judging by the audience's reaction, which was decidedly louder than the polite clapping associated with village cricket, director Pauline Skerritt achieved her aim to"illustrate why Shakespeare's works still resonate some 400 years after they were written."

 Depending on their primary skill, a cricketer is classified as either a batsman or a bowler. Craig Stevens however, as Benedick, proved to be an all rounder; equally adept in the delivery of comedy and tragedy. His Elvis impersonation prompted howls of laughter while hairs rose on the backs of necks as he hissed death threats into his friend's ear.

Co-star, Linda Cearns, did justice to the witty words set down by Shakespeare for the character of Beatrice; the sarcasm in her voice, emphasised by the way she lowered her chin to show disdain.

A member of the audience commented: "The way the actors moved and their facial expressions really brought out the meaning of the words. Not a single line was thrown away."

Sam Jefferyes, who only began university this autumn, was perfectly cast as the handsome, young count, Claudio. Turning from lovesick puppy to incensed cur, he demonstrated the range of both his talent and his voice.

When the friar (played by his real life father, Mike Jefferyes) asks Claudio if he will take his fiancee to be his lawful wedded wife, his answer - a booming "No" - causes the audience to jump in their seats.

His subsequent tirade causes the falsely accused Hero to faint, which Sandra Trott does so convincingly that the audience, already on the edge of its seat, leant further forward to check it really was an act.

Equally persuasive was Jim O'Sullivan, who played Hero's father, Leonato. With a voice racked by sobbing and hands red-raw with being wrung, he truly looked in need of the chair offered to him by the friar.

This episode marked a shift from comedy to tragedy and two fight scenes ensued. Both took place on a sloping ramp, which jutted, into the circle, making the audience fell like bystanders who have egged on the violence.

This emotional engagement of the audience was maintained by the poignant rendition of Shakespeare's song "Pardon Goddess of the Night", set to the tune of Scarborough Fair, played by guitarist Paul Turner and sung by Barbara Harrold.

Shakespearean Language

Despite having some of the densest Shakespearian language to recite the captain of the cricket team, Don Pedro, played by Barry Young, spoke his lines with such a natural intonation, it was possible to envisage him undertaking match commentary for the BBC.

His use of Queen's English contrasted sharply with the South African accent of his half-brother, Don John, played by Simon Haskell; the juxtaposition hinting at something sinister.

Barry Kirk, who played Dogberry, also adopted a different dialect. His use of the Yorkshire vernacular complemented his comic role as Dogberry, the park warden who exposes Don John's behaviour as being "just not cricket".

The attention to detail, which characterised the set design by Bob Stevenson, choreography , costume, make-up, props and music, was thrown into relief during the scene of the masked ball.
With most of the 21 actors on stage, couples had to twist and jive with precision in the limited space. 

The thatched roof of the near life-size cricket pavilion on stage, was decked with a string of multicoloured fairy lights. Through one of the windows it was possible to make out the team lists, such was the attention to detail, and through another, two girls were selecting records to put on the gramophone.

Andy Williams' Music To Watch Girls By, The Happening by the Supremes, Albatross by Fleetwood Mac and Alan Price's version of Don't Stop The Carnival, firmly set the play in the sixties, as did the bright blue eye make-up and shift dresses worn by the dancers.

Equally colourful in a bold shirt, inspired by the Dutch painter Mondriaan and a bird mask, Benedick believed himself to be well disguised from Beatrice. His words: "She told me, not thinking I had been myself, that I was the prince's jester!" were given resonance when he pushed up his mask, so that the red beak and feathers resembled the three points of a jester's cap.

Unsuccessful concealment was also the theme of the two funniest scenes, judging by the volume of laughter from the audience, which saw Beatrice and Benedick hiding behind flowers, under deck chairs and inside cricket pads.

It was this complicity, between players and audience, which made the cricket-themed interpretation of Much Ado into something profoundly more engaging than a spectator sport.

Carla Pickering, Barking & Dagenham Post