Abstract
The vivid hues in Grace Smart's design of Shakespeare's Globe's Much Ado about Nothing shone brightly in a literal sense and also stood out as one of the stars of this comedy. Costume Supervisor Jacquie Davies explained the colour choices in an interview with the costume team printed in the production program: ‘The orange reflects the orange trees in the set; the blue mirrors the blue of the Globe's ceiling.’ Gold trees with oranges hanging and blue iron balconies created a beautiful orchard backdrop to decorate the set, and characters even ate real oranges onstage or used them in stage action. Much to the audience's delight, Ekow Quartey (Benedick) peeled oranges and put pieces in his ears to drown out John Lightbody's (Leonato) singing, ‘Sigh no more, ladies’ in 2.3. In addition to the colourful set and props, many of the characters’ costumes used the bright palette as well. Particularly Lydia Fleming's (Hero) bright orange early modern rural Italian dress stood out for its vibrant colour but also for the way it was cleverly tied to the script. Claudio dropped Hero's hand and shamed her at their wedding with his line, ‘Give not this rotten orange to your friend’ (4.1.32) just before the beautiful bride fainted. In a positive highlight, the costumes during the 2.1 masquerade ball were stunning. Each character wore an elaborate headpiece, which mostly represented different animals. I found the costumes fascinating and was mesmerised by the intricate details of each one, which actually did disguise the characters’ identities like Lightbody's (Leonato) orange toad and Adam Wadsworth's (Claudio) bear costume (Figure 1). Aside from the bright colours, the design team did not miss any details alerting audience members to certain connections in the play like ensuring both Ryan Donaldson (Don Pedro) and Robert Mountford (Don John) had an almost identical grey streak in their brown hair to show they were brothers. The stunning visuals of this production along with superb acting made this comedy a delight to see.
The company of Much Ado about Nothing, Shakespeare's Globe. Photograph by Marc Brenner.
Garnering the most attention onstage was definitely Quartey with his expressions and gestures, perfectly timed comedic lines, and audience interaction. In his 2.3 soliloquy, Quartey announced, ‘I’ll take my oath on it’ and had the groundlings repeat his oath about never letting a woman make a fool of him. Afterwards, he ad-libbed, ‘Go team,’ and the Globe erupted in applause. After Donaldson said, ‘your niece Beatrice was in love with Signor Benedick,’ Quarty threw his hands in the air and mouthed ‘What?’ and dropped the orange he was about to eat. (2.3.96). The audience responded with laughter at this moment, and Quarty crept down the balcony ladder and tried to blend in with the orange trees to better eavesdrop on Lightbody and Donaldson's conversation. Quarty commanded attention each time he was onstage, and he never disappointed in creating a hilariously memorable Benedick.
As expected, Jonnie Broadbent (Dogberry) brought great humour to the production as the bumbling constable. Even his costume showed how the character flaunted the pretentiousness of his position as the only one wearing a ruff and also boasting gold accents on his outfit. Staffs and swords were essential to Broadbent's blocking even as he made his first entry in 3.3; he ran onstage and tried to pull out his sword from his belt, but he only produced a small dagger after all the build-up. The audience found his entrance entertaining and rewarded Broadbent with laughter. During a later scene, Broadbent entered 4.2 carrying a grand feathered staff. He proudly passed it off to a groundling to hold for him. In this scene, Broadbent had a larger sword but struggled to raise it with the added weight. After calling him an ‘ass’ (with an exaggeration on the word), Dharmesh Patel (Conrade) took one of his handcuffs and used it on Broadbent, who willingly accepted the restraint and walked off cuffed to the prisoner and seemingly unaware that he had been duped.
While much of this comedy produced great laughter, Lightbody performed flawlessly in his role of the angry father in 4.1. When Wadsworth shamed Fleming and left her at the altar, Lightbody charged towards his daughter and said, ‘Strike at thy life’ (4.1.127). Fleming trembled in fear and cried while her father railed. With pure callousness, Lightbody said, ‘Hence from her, let her die’ (4.1.154) and continued with ‘These hands shall tear her’ (4.1.191). Without Quartey holding him back, it seemed as though Lightbody would actually attack Fleming. While these moments were disturbing, the acting was excellent. Thankfully, Lightbody reconsidered his thoughts and actions towards Fleming and said slowly and deliberately as he made eye contact with the groundlings, ‘My soul doth tell me Hero is belied’ (5.1.42). After his swift action to accuse her, Lightbody redeemed himself and appeared to get reassurance from the audience. The range of the acting was well done to show how Lightbody reduced his rage in exchange for concern.
This production of Much Ado about Nothing brought me great joy as I enjoyed the beautiful designs and witty characters. However, as with previous performances at Shakespeare's Globe, I was disappointed to see one of the key actors was not present, and there was no official understudy playing the role. Lucy Reynolds did her best as she held a script and stood in for the role of Beatrice, but I was looking forward to seeing Amalia Vitale perform. The play's promotional video seemed to show a great chemistry between Vitale and Quarty as the bickering lovers, Beatrice and Benedick, but I was unable to witness their interaction nor see a rehearsed understudy's interpretation of one of Shakespeare's greatest female characters.