Waking Up In My Own Pink World: Much Ado About Nothing @ Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
Rave new world! Jamie Lloyd’s party take on William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell convince utterly and beguile as the sparring bachelor and bachelorette Benedict and Beatrice conned into thoughts of love by their sniggering friends. And there’s lots of dancing — check out the Hiddleston moves! And you may get chest flashed by the same, or dunked in pink ticker tape if you’re in the front rows. He will say ‘sorry’ though! Even better, the cast address the audience at points — so Tom Hiddleston may call you fair, wise or virtuous or Hayley Atwell compare and contrast your boyhood youth against an older beardy.
Throughout pink paper ticker tape falls, and the floor is flooded by it. Which is just as well because Tom Hiddleston’s going to use it, very cleverly and comedically to hide behind and under, burrowing under it, distract others from his presence by creating billowing ‘cloud’ bursts and even turning cheerleader; then, in a tour-de-force moment rolling around the stage to bury himself inside an Anya Hindmarsh style giant inflatable red heart. Even, at one moment, he dives down through a trapdoor infront of the other actors, disappearing unexpectedly down into the pink floof.
More sun, sea and sex with Shakespeare, the cast is here to have a very good time. As are we, the audience, in more restrained measures for measure. Though after a few wines at the interval, the audience wants to pantomime more and holds its collective breathe willing Atwell and Hiddleston’s Beatrice and Benedict to get together and kiss, not snarl and fight. And swooningly scream that yes Hiddleston’s Benedict really is ‘loved of all ladies’.
What was so enjoyable was watching the cast enjoying the play, what they were doing, having a good time… having a good time. They are having heaps of fun — and so are we! Though this is a super starry affair, it’s also very much an ensemble effort, with a rave atmosphere created through a classic happy house soundtrack. (Where oh where can we get this?) Not to mention terrific lighting effects and a colour palette of pinks and purples. Before the show starts we’re blasted with coloured disco lights — and glitter balls hang in the boxes. At the same time, it’s a bit tacky as everyone (particularly the men) look like they’ve been dressed by the Kendom and we’re in a very adult version of a Shakespearean mojo dojo casa house. The men can even Brewski Beer themselves with a beer hard hat!
Not above sending themselves up too — assemble Avengers cut-outs! Tom Hiddleston’s Benedict is charmingly suave, dances up a storm, even in an animal headdress, and glows with the fun of the play. At the same time, we see him changing, a confirmed bachelor surprised by love. Hayley Atwell’s Beatrice is serious, forceful, amusing and confident, a fantastic foil; both she and Hiddleston work magic in reining the audience in. Given that it’s fun, fun and more non-stop fun, there’s a tendency in the audience to laugh through everything — even the sad and tragic parts. Hiddleston does wonders reacting to the horror of the accusations against Hero (Mara Huf) and not quite knowing what to do with himself. Very much he just can’t believe what’s happening. There are also some pin-drop moments as Atwell and Hiddleston chat almost their inner thoughts to the audience, and in another incredibly naturalistic moment where Atwell weeps in outraged despair for the public and man-made slurs expressed against her cousin. For a time, she and Hiddleston sit in silence as she weeps. Hiddleston’s Benedict is so tender, so kind and yet horrified when the old Beatrice comes back at him, even as they romance, and asks him to revenge himself by killing Claudio. (As soon as possible and with as much pain as possible, please). Atwell’s Beatrice rails with wonderful irony at wanting the men around her to man up and go Hamlet. She could do it all so much better than they, apart from socio-cultural conventions. At the same time, their journey to romance is utterly believable and charming; we warm towards them as characters and hope they will too.
Clever things are also done too as the cast dance around with chairs, moving into position. Often sitting off-stage at the back, they also form rows opposing each other at points. Even better, they charge across the stage, en masse as a chairless cheering group, baffling Benedict. We get the clash of two cultures with the arrival of the Prince and his men in dance styles — and behaviour. The clash of the brothers (and their spheres of influence and power) is done as a circling game of musical chairs, with Don John (Tim Steed) defeated and complaining about to — to the audience. He even does a cackling villain laugh! Meanwhile, the wedding is conjured up by everyone donning glittery accessories — Hiddleston has a great glittery belt and neck tie.
James Phoon does wonders with Claudio, shining in a silver metallic suit — and literally held back by Benedict from Hero. We get a greater sense of the hurt and betrayal of what he thinks he sees — having set things up by showing how shy he is to approach Hero to begin with (and yet how much he likes and admires her, especially when he finds out she’s an heiress). The play seeks to empower Hero more by having her present under a party table whilst pretending to be ‘dead’, and we see Claudio in spotlight mourning her as Hero slowly moves back and back in the distance. She also speaks back more during the accusations at the wedding ceremony.
Mason Alexander Park provides the lyrics and also some nuanced acting showing remorse for the part they’ve played in shaming Hero. Their confession of the truth of what happened is so naturalistic and we see before our eyes, their growing realisation of what they’ve done, what they’ve been involved in. Even better is the admission from Mika Onyx Johnson’s Borachio who weeps and really repents infront of our eyes, seeking to be rehabilitated back into the group again. This humble portrayal really touches the heart.
Moving too is Gerald Kyd’s sad Ken Don Pedro urged to get a wife by Beatrice — even more could have been made of this very gentle moment. It’s there, but it does get a bit swallowed up in the cast rush to the back to assemble for a final dance-off.
At times though the production loses itself too much in hedonism, to the diminishing of the serious — though as before the cast work really hard to pull us all away from joking. I could have done without all the werking, twerking and grinding; it was also at odds with the happy house soundtrack and Hero’s own character. Be that as it may, this form also brought a dramatic contrast to the wedding arrival of Hero’s double and Hero wielding some bum-slapping power at the end for all Claudio put her through! Claudio was fantastically comedic — screaming out ‘another Hero! and being told in very simple terms, that this is the original. At the end, the reunion and reactions of Hero and Claudio felt a bit rushed — literally slapping to snogging, but maybe given how much bum slapping there’d already been, this is just how things are around here. It would have been interesting to see more of Hero’s emotions coming through here — given that she’d been eavesdropping on proceedings all this time! And why have her Dad Leonato (Forbes Masson) try almost to kiss the Priest (Phillip Olagoke)? (Too much — even in this production which features Tweety Bird and Octopus mask heads!!)
Think you’ve seen too much? Never enough! In a splendid ending, the cast danced, got us the audience all up and dancing and showered us in pink paper ticker tape. What a bop! For atmosphere, energy, pace and zest, we get 110%. Moreover, we get the words — the cast really make those moments count, revealing how bawdy the Bard can be. At the same time, the theatre also has the best staff dancing with no photography/ no video signs before the show and during intervals — give them a cheer and a whoop, they deserve it. Not to mention those hard-working staff stopping everyone killing themselves and missing the play by repeating ‘mind the step’…cos c’mon, we got important things to do..in extravagant Shakespearean pink!
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