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Much Ado about Nothing
Presented by Sonia Friedman Productions at Wyndham's Theatre, London. June 1-September 3, 2011. Directed by Josie Rourke. Designed by Robert Jones. Lighting by Peter Mumford. Music by Michael Bruce. Sound by Emma Laxton. Movement by Georgina Lamb. With Jonathan Coy (Leonato), Leo Staar (Messenger), Catherine Tate (Beatrice), Sarah Macrae (Hero), Adam James (Don Pedro), David Tennant (Benedick), Elliot Levey (Don John), Tom Bateman (Claudio), Anna Farnworth (Innogen), Lee Knight (Conrade), Alex Beckett (Borachio), Joshua Berg (Titus), Natalie Thomas (Margaret), Kathryn Hunt (Ursula), Derek Howard (Angelo), Eugene Lewis, Mario Marin-Borquez, Bailey Pepper (Boy), Enzo Squillino, Jr. (Balthasar, Sexton), John Ramm (Dogberry), Mike Grady (Verges), Clive Hayward (Hugh Oatcake, Friar Francis), Nicholas Lumley (George Seacoal), and Hannah Warren-Green (Maria).
Josie Rourke's production of Much Ado about Nothing moved the play from Messina to Gibraltar in the 1980s, "a party island" as a note in the program described it. The set reflected the new Mediterranean location: a tall semi-circular wall, composed entirely of wooden shutters and running from floor to ceiling, extended around the back of the stage. A circular, rotating platform, covered with tan marble tiles, stood at center stage and served as the primary playing space. Four marble columns were set side by side in the middle of the platform.
As the play began, Beatrice and Hero reclined on the platform in yellow and white striped beach chairs with matching umbrellas next to them. A boom-box on the floor played rock music of the '80s. Don Pedro and his company arrived in white naval uniforms and sunglasses: they had apparently landed in Gibraltar for rest and relaxation after action in the Falklands. Benedick entered a moment later driving a golf cart decorated with small British flags. Dogberry would later appear wearing desert fatigue pants, tan boots, and a khaki T-shirt with the word "officer" in capital letters across his chest. Margaret, Ursula, and Balthazar, with others in the company, seemed to represent the indigenous, Hispanic inhabitants of Gibraltar and Leonato the senior British administrator.
Leonato had got him a wife in the move from Messina to Gibraltar. An actress played Innogen, the phantom character who is named in the first stage direction of both the Quarto and the Folio, but who is...