Much Ado About Nothing | Online Learning Pack

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING ONLINE LEARNING PACK

Presenting Partner Much Ado About Nothing

National Education & Youth Partner

CONTENTS ABOUT BELL SHAKESPEARE Contributors: Samantha Tidy and James Evans

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 2011

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CAST, CREATIVES AND CREW

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SYNOPSIS

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BACKGROUND

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ADAPTATIONS OF THE PLAY

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CHARACTERS

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CHRACTER PROFILES

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DISCUSSION POINTS

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INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR, JOHN BELL

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SET DESIGN IMAGES

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REFERENCES

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THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS

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ABOUT BELL SHAKESPEARE “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 5) Having just celebrated our 20th year, our Learning Programme continues to expand with an ever-growing repertoire, while extending our geographic reach. In 2011, we are pleased to present and welcome you to our first ever schools-dedicated production of Romeo And Juliet at the Seymour Centre, Sydney and at The National Theatre, Melbourne. With the full force of a mainstage show, Romeo And Juliet is perfect for Years 7 – 12 English and Drama students.

Shakespeare was never meant to be read. At Bell Shakespeare we believe that his plays should be experienced as live performance and taught as great works that stand the test of time. We encourage new interpretations. We look for contemporary parallels to his 400-year old stories.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Online Learning Pack Contributors: Samantha Tidy (Head of Education, Bell Shakespeare) and James Evans (Resident Artist in Education, Bell Shakespeare).

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 2011 It’s Sicily. The 1950s. There are unwritten but iron rules of behaviour – a focus on family pride, vendettas, and the notion of male honour. Against this backdrop, we witness the sweet, forthright love of Hero and Claudio, alongside Benedick and Beatrice’s sizzling battle of wits. There is Don Pedro’s gleeful plotting to spark a romance between Beatrice and Benedick; a cruel hoax contrived by Don John to plant suspicion, dishonour Hero and spoil her marriage to Claudio; and a surprising reversal as Beatrice and Benedick are compelled to join forces with a vengeance.

John Bell directs this exuberant comedy with a lightness of touch and a fantastic cast including Toby Schmitz as Benedick and Blazey Best as Beatrice. Though the festive atmosphere is tinged at times by the slightly sinister elements of mistrust, spying, eavesdropping and gossip, ultimately the sun shines through in this feel-good production.

Director, John Bell says: “Each of Shakespeare’s comedies has a unique charm; to my mind Much Ado About Nothing is the most earthy and warm-hearted. Here there are no enchanted forests or amazing coincidences, just the hammer and tongs of gender politics with all their attendant rages and hilarity.”

Sprezzatura - rehearsed spontaneity, studied carelessness, and well-practiced naturalness– is ultimately cast aside as the characters learn what they will and won’t do for that capricious and often elusive state of love.

This is Bell Shakespeare’s third production of Much Ado About Nothing, following productions in 1996 and 2000.

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CAST BENEDICK

Toby Schmitz

BEATRICE

Blazey Best

DOGBERRY

Max Gillies

LEONATO

Tony Llewellyn-Jones

DON PEDRO

Matthew Walker

DON JOHN

Sean O’Shea

CLAUDIO

Sean Hawkins

HERO

Alexandra Fisher

BORACHIO

Nathan Lovejoy

FRIAR FRANCIS & VERGES

Robert Alexander

ANTONIO & A SEXTON

Arky Michael

CONRADE & A BOY

Andrew Tighe

MARGARET

Megan O’Connell

URSULA

Lizzie Schebesta

BALTHASAR/WATCH/MESSENGER

Tyran Parke

CREATIVES DIRECTOR

John Bell

DESIGNER

Stephen Curtis

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Matt Scott

COMPOSER

Alan John

MOVEMENT DIRECTOR

Gavin Robins

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Imara Savage

CREW TECHNICAL MANAGER

Nick Angelicas

STAGE MANAGER

Melanie Lobendahn

TOURING STAGE MANAGER

Marrianne Carter

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Courtney Wilson

HEAD ELECTRICIAN

Graham Silver

HEAD MECHANIST

John Grimau

HEAD OF SOUND

Steve Francis

WARDROBE SUPERVISIOR

Mandy Nichols

DRESSER / WARDROBE MAINTENANCE

Jo Beaton

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SYNOPSIS Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, has just ended an uprising by his half-brother, Don John. The two princes agree to a truce and they travel to the home of Leonato, the Governor of Messina, Sicily, for at least a month of R&R. Travelling with them are Count Claudio of Florence and Benedick of Padua.

Upon arriving at Leonato’s house, Benedick immediately starts verbally sparring with a former flame, Beatrice, the niece of Leonato. Meanwhile, Claudio confesses to Don Pedro his love for Leonato’s beautiful daughter, Hero.

Don Pedro agrees to woo Hero on Claudio’s behalf at a party that evening, while Don John plots with his two henchmen, Borachio and Conrade, to cause mischief.

At the party, Claudio is told by Don John that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself, but Claudio soon learns this is not true. Hero and Claudio are united and make plans to marry within a week.

To pass the time between now and the wedding, Don Pedro decides to trick Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love with each other. With the help of Leonato, Claudio, Hero and Ursula (Hero’s maid) Don Pedro sets up Benedick and Beatrice to overhear conversations about how much the other loves them.

Both Benedick and Beatrice find they have feelings for each other, and change their demeanors from surly to love-sick (Beatrice) and from jokey to love-struck (Benedick).

Meanwhile, Don John arranges for Borachio to woo Hero’s other maid, Margaret, at Hero’s window. He informs Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is going to be unfaithful, and arranges for them to be witnesses. They hear Borachio calling Margaret ‘Hero’, and are taken in.

Later that night, the Watch, led by Dogberry and Verges, prepare to carry out their evening duties.

Borachio is overheard telling Conrade about the plot, and the two henchmen are arrested. Dogberry and Verges begin an interrogation, but the time of Claudio and Hero’s wedding arrives before they can reach any conclusions. In the church, Claudio and Don Pedro reveal the ‘truth’ about Hero. She faints, and they leave. Don John flees the estate. Hero protests her innocence and the priest supports her, suggesting they should pretend she has died, until the truth is discovered. Beatrice and Benedick declare their feelings for each other, and Beatrice makes Benedick vow to kill Claudio for shaming Hero.

Leonato and Antonio offer to fight with Claudio, then learn the truth from the Watch. Claudio realises he was wrong and begs forgiveness of Leonato. Leonato demands that Claudio mourn Hero, and in recompense marry his brother’s daughter – who happens to look exactly like Hero. Claudio agrees, and at the ceremony the real Hero is unveiled. Beatrice and Benedick stop denying their love for each other and agree to be married. As they are all about to dance, they receive news of Don John’s capture.

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BACKGROUND Much Ado About Nothing was first performed in 1598 or 1599, either at the Curtain, north of the city of London, or possibly at the newly built Globe (1599). Like most of Shakespeare’s plays, Much Ado About Nothing is based on (or inspired by) pre-existing material. In this case, Shakespeare relied on two sources – Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso and Matteo Bandello’s La Prima Parte de le Novelle.

Ariosto’s story is set in Scotland and is told from the point of view of the maid, Dalinda (Margaret in Shakespeare’s play). Dalinda is servant to Genevra, the daughter of the king of Scotland. Dalinda’s lover, Polynesso, convinces Dalinda to dress up like Genevra and make love to him. Little does she know that the intended audience of the spectacle is Ariodante, a rival knight to Polynesso, who is in love with Genevra.

Bandello’s novella is set in Messina, like Much Ado About Nothing, and features a wealthy knight, Sir Timbreo (the equivalent of Shakespeare’s Claudio) a courtier of King Piero of Aragon. Sir Timbreo falls in love with Fenicia, the daughter of Lionato de’ Lionati. Sir Timbreo’s comrade Sir Girondo is also in love with Fenicia and decides to ruin Sir Timbreo’s courtship by deceiving him, in much the same way Claudio is deceived in Much Ado About Nothing.

As usual, Shakespeare takes his sources and alters them, heightening and focusing the drama. Much Ado About Nothing’s Messina has a far more nuanced sense of rank and social hierarchy than its predecessors. Also, in the deception of Claudio, Shakespeare shifts the source of the slander from a rival lover (Polynesso or Sir Girondo) to a disgruntled villain, Don John. Don John’s motives, then, are more murky than a simple love rivalry.

The character of Claudio is far quicker to judge his betrothed than either Ariodante or Sir Timbreo. And his reaction is very public. Bandello’s Sir Timbreo politely sends a message to Lionato prior to the wedding to tell him it’s off. Claudio waits almost until ‘I do’ and then shames her in front of everyone.

The most important addition by Shakespeare is the relationship of Benedick and Beatrice. The source for those two characters is less clear and they are likely to be largely Shakespeare’s invention. Benedick and Beatrice’s witty dialogue and the very contemporary trajectory of their relationship makes them a favourite of modern audiences. They have clearly relegated Claudio and Hero’s story to the sub-plot.

Much Ado About Nothing is by far the most prose-heavy play Shakespeare wrote. Only a quarter of the lines are in verse.

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ADAPTATIONS OF MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING The most famous film version of Much Ado About Nothing was the 1993 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It starred Branagh as Benedick, Emma Thompson as Beatrice, Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, Kate Beckinsale as Hero, Keanu Reeves as Don John and Michael Keaton as Dogberry.

The BBC filmed a version of the play in 1984 as part of its Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. In 2005, it updated Much Ado About Nothing for ShakespeaRe-Told, setting the play in a fictional news studio, starring Billie Piper as Hero.

The earliest known film version is a silent movie from the early 20th century, directed by prolific short-film maker Phillips Smalley.

Hector Berlioz wrote an opera entitled Béatrice et Bénédict in the mid-19th century and more recently a musical theatre adaptation called The Boys Are Coming Home (2006), set in America after World War II, was produced by the American Music Theatre Project.

In 2008 Chicago’s Q Brothers first performed a hip-hop adaptation of the play called Funk It up About Nothing.

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING CHARACTER CHART

Image © Bell Shakespeare 2011

The Household of the Governor of Messina

The Soldiers

LEONATO, Governor of Messina ANTONIO, brother to Leonato HERO, daughter to Leonato BEATRICE, niece to Leonato MARGARET, waiting woman to Hero URSULA, waiting woman to Hero A BOY

DON PEDRO, Prince of Aragon DON JOHN, illegitimate brother to Don Pedro BENEDICK, a lord of Padua CLAUDIO, a lord of Florence BALTHASAR, an attendant to Don Pedro CONRADE, companion to Don John BORACHIO, companion to Don John A LORD

Townspeople of Messina FRIAR FRANCIS DOGBERRY, master constable VERGES, a headborough MEMBERS OF THE WATCH FRANCIS SEACOAL, a Sexton MUSICIANS MESSENGERS ATTENDANTS

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CHARACTER PROFILES Benedick Benedick is a young lord from Padua and the lead male character of the play. He has been fighting under Don Pedro and is friend to him and Claudio. Benedick and Beatrice exchange a series of witty, barbed comments, and Benedick vows always to remain a bachelor. He is the victim of a friendly trick to set him up with Beatrice. Despite their “merry war”, the two eventually agree to marry.

Beatrice Beatrice is niece to Leonato and the lead female character of the play. She is generous and loving, but, like Benedick, continually mocks other people with elaborate jokes and puns. She wages a war of wits against Benedick and often wins the battles. At the outset of the play, she appears content never to marry. Although Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship is not the main action of the play, they are often thought of as the heroine and hero of Much Ado About Nothing.

Don Pedro Don Pedro is the character with the highest social and political stature in the play. He is a nobleman from Aragon, an old friend of Leonato and close with his soldiers Benedick and Claudio. Although he is goodnatured and generous to his friends, like Leonato he is quick to make negative judgements of others and to take revenge.

Leonato Leonato is the respected governor of Messina, father of Hero and uncle of Beatrice. He is second only in the play’s social structure to Don Pedro. He has a great desire to see Hero and Beatrice married and takes part in the trickery to match Beatrice with Benedick. Despite his good intentions, Leonato is easily swayed by Don John’s deceptive plan and initially distrusts Hero’s innocence.

Antonio Antonio is the brother of Leonato and uncle to Hero and Beatrice.

Claudio Claudio is a young lord from Florence who has been fighting with Benedick in the service of Don Pedro.

On Claudio’s return to Messina he falls in love with Hero. Although he has a strong sense of honour, he is drawn in by Don John’s trick to prove Hero’s supposed unfaithfulness. Claudio is a count and is of a higher social stature than Benedick, though lower than Don Pedro.

Hero Hero is the beautiful, young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. In comparison to Beatrice’s fiery temperament, Hero is gentle, quiet and reserved. She falls in love with Claudio and the two agree to marry within one week. However, Hero is treated harshly when Don John’s wicked plan to slander her character works on the male characters of the play.

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Margaret Margaret is Hero’s servingwoman and the lover of Borachio. She unwittingly becomes part of the plot to deceive Claudio into thinking Hero is unfaithful. Margaret, like Beatrice, has a quick wit.

Ursula Ursula also attends Hero, however is of a higher social stature than Margaret. She is involved in gulling of Beatrice along with Hero.

Don John Don John is the illegitimate brother of Don Pedro – often called the ‘bastard brother’ – and one of the villains of the play. Don John is a melancholy character and is quick to construct the plot to destroy Hero and Claudio’s happiness. His actions in the play are motivated by his jealousy and resentment of his brother, Don Pedro, who defeated him in battle and keeps him on a tight leash.

Borachio Borachio is a follower of Don John and another villain of the play. He concocts the scheme to deceive Claudio into thinking Hero is unfaithful, and uses his lover, Margaret, as part of the plan.

Conrade Conrade is a close follower of Don John, and is a keen conspirator in his evil plans.

Dogberry Dogberry is the head constable of Messina in charge of the Watch. He takes his job very seriously, however Dogberry is often seen as the clown of the play, as he frequently speaks in malapropisms (where one word is mistakenly used instead of another, to amusing effect). This stems from his desire to speak formally like the noblemen of Leonato’s house, even though he is of a lower social stature.

Friar Francis Friar Francis is a holy man and religious adviser to Leonato. He is able to conduct weddings and does so for Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick, at the end of the play.

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DISCUSSION POINTS The play Much Ado About Nothing is distinct from other Shakespearean romance plays: - It is set in real-world Messina (not mythical Illyria or a magical wood) - It has no love at first sight, but instead the suggestion of a complicated past between Beatrice and Benedick.

- It has no magical/supernatural element (Iike A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Tempest) Different kinds of love As he did in The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare contrasts ‘courtly’ love, characterised by fine sentiments, sincerity and the formal process of wooing, courtship and marriage, with combative love, characterised by battles of wits, irony and cynicism about marriage. Of course, Hero and Claudio fit in to the first category and Beatrice and Benedick into the second.

Gender Politics It has been said that Much Ado About Nothing plays with gender stereotypes but ultimately reinforces a patriarchal, hierarchical world view. Beatrice and Benedick, who rail against marriage, ultimately get married. The marriage of Hero and Claudio proceeds, once her honour has been established.

Beatrice seems to step outside the traditional ‘feminine’ role, which Hero adopts. However, even Beatrice’s berating of Benedick tacitly accepts fundamental gender relationships as they are: “Oh that I were a man!” she says, before urging Benedick to challenge Claudio.

Overall, in Benedick and Beatrice, Shakespeare has given us a very modern couple – a feisty and evenly matched relationship, which will probably continue in this vein after the play’s conclusion. It’s as if Shakespeare gives us a conventional relationship and then another one which strains the bounds of conventionality without breaking them.

Social Hierarchy There is an argument that the play doesn’t challenge social hierarchies. It presents behaviour as determined by birth.

- Don John was born a ‘bastard’ and acts like one.

- Conrad was born under Saturn, leading to his villainy.

- Margaret is ‘below stairs’, and has no chance of ‘marrying up’.

- Beatrice was born ‘under a dancing star,’ giving her a merry temperament.

Comedy The main kinds of comedy we get in Much Ado About Nothing are: - Verbal battles between Beatrice and Bendick.

- Clowning from Dogberry, Verges and the Watch. An unwitting comedy built on laughing AT the clown (full of Kath and Kim-style malapropisms).

- Situational Comedy – The scenes in the garden with Beatrice and Benedick are classic dramatic irony. They are set to fall in love with each other: we know this but they don’t. The fact that they accept it and resolve to change their lives instantaneously, makes the comedy work.

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Masks The theme of disguise is one which runs through the play.

Masquerade ball This provides a wonderful opportunity for the ‘unguarded comments’ that Beatrice makes about Benedick, perhaps not knowing who she dances with. This is certainly what he believes at any rate and is clearly disturbed and hurt by her assessment of him.

Beatrice and Benedick wear masks through the play in the form of their witty exteriors. Benedick’s rhetoric could be masking a fear of marriage, or even a fear of dying alone – he jokes constantly about not being trapped in marriage and how married men will be cuckolded (cheated on by their wives).

Beatrice also perhaps fears both marriage and single life – either being dominated by a husband or, on the other hand, missing out on a relationship.

The giveaway is that although both swear off marriage, they are only too eager to jump in the very instant the opportunity arises.

Margaret and Borachio – This is a very literal example of disguise. Margaret is convinced to impersonate her mistress, Hero, in a compromising situation. This trick is the pivotal point in the play: leading to Hero being denounced, the wedding being ruined and Benedick’s challenge of his friend to a duel.

The revelation of a masked, virginal Hero at the end of the play.

This device is used even more effectively in The Winter’s Tale, where Hermoine’s statue comes to life: a reincarnation of a woman falsely accused and now vindicated. Claudio never admits his culpability in her fall from grace (he sees himself as wronged as well) which takes away the power of the moment in this play.

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INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR, JOHN BELL James Evans, Resident Artist in Education, in conversation with John Bell.

Much Ado About Nothing is one of more than ten plays Shakespeare set in Italy. Do you think it is necessary to transfer the play to an Australian setting for it resonate with an Australian audience?

No, after all we see so many foreign movies. Most of the stuff we watch on television every night is American or English. If you see a movie like True Grit you can’t even understand most of the dialogue.

We’re very used to seeing foreign material. You can, with good reason, transfer a play to Australia, if you’ve got a point to make. I did it once with The Taming of the Shrew. I wanted to comment on a certain kind of chauvinism and a certain materialistic, hedonistic society, so I set that on the Gold Coast. I wanted audiences to recognise that society. There is an advantage in localising some plays sometimes.

It’s very difficult, I think, to localise Henry IV or Richard III in Toorak or somewhere. What would be the point? In the case of Much Ado About Nothing I’ve stayed Italian – Sicilian. I think that’s important for the credibility of the story. The male pride and militaristic code of honour among the men, the father’s overreaction to thinking his daughter has been sleeping around, the chastity of the bride, the honour of the household name. All of that, I think, makes much more sense in Sicily than it would in Australia. But even then, I’ve set it back a little bit because those codes of honour are starting to fade away now throughout Europe, though you can imagine they’re still quite strong in parts of Italy. But if you set it back to the 1960s, as we’ve done, then it’s even more credible. They’re living by those social mores and customs and those things are still very, very strong. You can transfer it anywhere you like, set it in any time you like, as long as you make sense of the play. That’s the only reason to do it. Otherwise, you’re just playing silly buggers and being irresponsible.

How specific have you been with the design of the production, in terms of time and place?

Pretty specific. The set represents a crumbling Italian mansion, with the walls covered in frescoes, which you probably wouldn’t find in many other places. It does have a period feel about it and a particularly Italian feel about it. [The mansion] has been modernised somewhat. They’ve bashed a hole in the wall and put in some sliding doors. The furniture is all new. So there’s that feeling of an old country house that’s been not so much renovated as just had a little makeover. So we get the sense of tradition and the sense of antiquity, but it’s also fairly contemporary. [See Diagram 1 and 2 on the following pages for set design images] Much Ado About Nothing is quite unusual in that it doesn’t feature the elements we expect from Shakespearean comedy – the supernatural or outrageous coincidences. Is that the reason for its ongoing appeal?

I think all those things can appeal. It’s great to see a play that has the supernatural, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or weird coincidences, like Comedy of Errors or Twelfth Night. We can enjoy different levels of theatricality, but there’s a certain joy in seeing a play that’s quite naturalistic, rom-com, prosey, everyday, plot-driven; there’s a certain relish in that too. It’s unusual in being a Shakespeare play that has little lyricism and is so down to earth. Most of the comedies have some supernatural element, or there’s some other dimension. (The Taming Of The) Shrew hasn’t got it either, but most of the others

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have. So in designing it, I was keen that we found some element of meta-theatricality about it, otherwise it could just be like a David Williamson play or something – suburban and naturalistic. So in the design there is an element of the theatrical, in that the door at the back can open and shut like a proscenium curtain, and there are grand entrances through it. And we’ll make the most of characters break through the fourth wall and address the audience. So just now and then, we’ll break the naturalistic convention, but for a great deal of it, it is naturalistic prose and it’s psychologically driven and believable. That’s what I’ll be encouraging with the actors – trying to find a way of playing it in a very natural, modern way, paying particular attention to the prose, which is quite tricky. Prose is sometimes even harder than verse to handle because you haven’t got the guidelines of meter and rhythm – the choices are more open. So it’s a bit more like playing Oscar Wilde or Sheridan or that sort of comedy – being very dextrous with the language and prose and making it soar in a way that’s not too nonchalant.

In the second half of the play, we meet Dogberry, the Constable [played by Max Gillies]. This role was presumably originally played by Shakespeare’s notorious clown, Will Kemp. In fact, I think Kemp’s performance may have given rise to a line in Shakespeare’s next play, Hamlet: “Let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them.” To what extent do you allow an actor in a comic role free rein to improvise and ad lib?

When Dogberry comes in with the Watch, the play shifts, in the kind of comedy that we’ve been used to.

Until now it’s been pretty naturalistic and middle class. And suddenly we have an element of buffoonery; similar to the kind of language the mechanicals use in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’ll mark that in the production in a specific way, by making it a highly theatrical moment. Then you’ve got that interesting mix – those scenes are followed by the high tragedy of the wedding scene and the challenges between the men and the falling out of Benedick and Claudio. It’s a really interesting dynamic to go from Dogberry to that, back to Dogberry, back to that. That’s a bit of a challenge. I think, in other words, Dogberry can’t be too fantastical. He has to maintain a certain level of credibility and naturalism as well. I think that’s one huge mistake that Kenneth Branagh made in his film – that he turned Dogberry and Verges into a pair of absolute raving lunatics who were riding imaginary horses, they were totally off the planet.

Whereas Dogberry is a very down-to-earth, very real, simple village constable – totally serious, totally committed, totally honest, full of integrity. He’s just pompous and gets his words mixed up, that’s all.

Otherwise, he’s not a fantastic; he’s a real person. If you turn him into a fantastic, the play goes really weird, as Branagh’s film did, I think. So I think Max... he’s a great comedian, but he’s not the kind of wild comedian who depends on ad libs and gags and personality performance. I think Max is very used to doing impersonations and creating very credible, real characters. So he’ll have a lot of fun within the confines of Dogberry. He doesn’t have to ad lib or go for gags. In fact, I think gags are absolutely off the menu in this show, unless they arise spontaneously from the text. No funny hats, no funny business, no funny walks.

There are dark elements to this play, amidst the humour – the villainy of Don John, the rejection of Hero, the challenge of Claudio by Benedick. How dark can a director go with a much-loved comedy?

I think one can go fairly dark. We won’t know until we start rehearsal just how far we can go, but I think if you don’t get the dark then there’s no relief. If it stays trivial and frivolous then there’s not enough substance to it. We’ll explore that and see how far we can go.

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Have you had much time to discuss your vision of the play with cast members before beginning rehearsals, or will all of the discoveries be made on the floor?

The actors have thought a lot about it and we’ve had talks. When I auditioned people we talked about it to a degree then. There’s a lot more talking to do, and they’ll all have thought about their characters since they were cast. Benedick and Beatrice is the essential relationship to get right, making sure they’re absolutely on song together. Without those two really working, the play doesn’t really work. It’ll be the thing I’m most attentive to.

What about Don Pedro [the Prince]? What is his role in bringing about that important relationship?

You could go several ways with that one. He could be slightly vengeful – when Beatrice rejects him, he could think, “OK, well, I’ll fix you. I’ll set you up with Benedick and make fools of you both.” You could go that way, or that he’s just a busybody. I think both of those are not very satisfactory, because he says, “I love Benedick well.” I think I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and say he has a wisdom about him, that he can see that these two are well matched, and there is something between them and he can effect some good by bringing them together. I have a feeling that he’s emotionally constrained, ineffective emotionally, and can’t make connections himself, so he lives through other people. The way he jumps in to propose to Hero on Claudio’s behalf, for instance. He’s emotionally somehow detached, and stays at the end detached from the action. He’s like Antonio in Merchant of Venice or Antonio in Twelfth Night.

There’s always one left over, one man who’s disappointed and lovelorn. He’s that kind of figure. It’s tempting to play him older, but that doesn’t work so well with the three guys together – Benedick saying “these hobbyhorses”. If [Don Pedro] was older, a more substantial man, Benedick couldn’t treat him so disrespectfully. I think the three young men together is important and the only difference is in rank: Don Pedro is the Prince, Claudio’s the Count, Benedick’s the foot slogger, the private. And yet those class distinctions are overcome in their camaraderie, which is quite interesting. The military thing is important for that reason – that’s where they’ve come from. It’s also interesting in Shakespeare how familiar servants are with their masters sometimes. They are like partners. It’s like Grumio and Petruchio [in The Taming of the Shrew] or the Fool and Lear. There’s often a very strong bond between master and servant that’s stronger than any other bond in the play. They sometimes get slapped down for being too familiar – the Dromios [in The Comedy of Errors], for instance, joke and gag about and sometimes get clipped over the ear for being too saucy – but most of the time they’re buddies rather than servants.

There are a couple of lines in this play that modern audiences would find uncomfortable.

Benedick says, “If I do not love her I am a Jew.” Claudio says he’ll marry her, even if she were “an Ethiope”. How have you dealt with these lines?

I’ve changed the first one to: “If I do not love her I am a fool,” which more or less rhymes and scans, so it’s easier to take. I think the word ‘Ethiope’ I’ll leave. Although it’s quite offensive, I think Claudio by nature is very offensive, and if the audience go, “Oooh!” then that’s exactly the right reaction. So I don’t mind leaving that one in.

Claudio can be very unlikeable. In fact, Shakespeare has made him far more immature than the equivalent characters in the source material [mid-16th century works by Ariosto and Bandello].

Why do you think Shakespeare has done this?

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There’s an element of cruelty in Shakespeare. He likes putting his characters through the ringer.

Perhaps it humanises Benedick more, to have Claudio as callow as that. It gives Benedick more substance. I think the falling out of Benedick and Claudio is important. Claudio is immature, and I think the scene where they have to do their penance and sing the hymn at the tomb is important – they are forced into a penitential act and Claudio’s a little the wiser after that, perhaps. Again, that’s one reason I wanted to make it Italian, because I think that behaviour, set in Sicily in the 1960s, is more credible than it would be in a modern Australian or English or North American character. Just a different set of beliefs and behaviour, codes of honour.

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SET DESIGN Images from the Much Ado About Nothing model box by designer, Stephen Curtis.

Diagram 1

©SET AND COSTUME DESIGN: STEPHEN CURTIS

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SET DESIGN Images from the Much Ado About Nothing model box by designer, Stephen Curtis.

Diagram 2

©SET AND COSTUME DESIGN: STEPHEN CURTIS

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REFERENCES The Arden Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing (2006), Edited by Claire McEachern; Cengage Learning Who’s Who in Shakespeare (1995), Peter Quenell and Hamish Johnson; Oxford University Press.

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