Royal Shakespeare Theatre, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon
The conceit behind the current RSC pairing of Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing is that they are a matching pair of plays. Apparently, there is some historical support for the existence of a "missing" play called Love's Labour's Won. The two plays are similar romantic comedies, and LLL ends with the men departing for a year of absence from their lovers; MAAN starts with the men returning from war. Whatever the reason, RSC have programmed the two to run in rep over their current season. The plays are performed by the same company - we saw them as a Saturday matinee and evening show.
As well, this is the centenary of the start of WWI, and RSC has made the decision to mount the plays in Edwardian dress. The generally light tone of the plays fits well with the decision - with the somewhat darker moments of MMAN coinciding with the return from the Great War. The setting for both plays is the same - based on a local grand country house, Charlecot, near to Stratford-upon-Avon. In MAAN, it has been pressed into service as a hospital for the war-wounded, and the women of the play are in service as nurses. A touch of Downton Abbey comes to Shakespeare.
The performances are beautifully measured, with some great clowning and slapstick in several scenes. Whilst I love the play, it remains problematic in my mind. The savage denunciation of Hero by Claudio, that lies at the dramatic heart of the play, is so unaccountably savage, and his later recantation so immediate, to strain belief. As well. He gets away with it. In this production, once again, I find it hard to buy Claudio's labile behaviour. However, the chemistry between Beatrice and Benedict carries the day.
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