Review: Much Ado About Nothing (Bridewell Theatre)

Review by Izzy Tierney

⭐️⭐️

Trading the beautiful city of Messina for a coffee shop, the Constellation Players bring to life a different version of Shakespeare's classic by asking, What if Much Ado About Nothing was a Friends episode? As someone who loves both Friends and Much Ado About Nothing, I was interested to see how they would be combined into one play. Unfortunately, I found that the ambition of the project exceeded the execution.

The show starts at the beginning of a TV episode being filmed in front of a live audience, with the six actors chatting and quickly going over their lines before they perform a sixty minute version of Much Ado About Nothing, set in a living room and what is vaguely a coffee shop. Trying to do this play in such a short amount of time without some of its key characters (Don John especially) is risky and sadly doesn't pay off here. No time is given to properly form any connection with the characters or to understand their motivations, the plot lines feel rushed and underdeveloped, and the Friends-style production doesn't really make sense. The bell above the coffee shop door (in this case a curtain) rings any time someone enters or exits, canned laughter is played inconsistently throughout (both of which become more annoying as the show goes on) and the actors are all dressed like the Friends characters, but it's never clear if they're trying to imitate them or simply reference them.

Various Friends moments are included: the heads through the door (curtain), ‘Chandler’ aka Benedict trying to put the furniture back correctly and ‘Phoebe’ aka Margaret playing her guitar, but it ultimately doesn't add anything to the story. The show ends without a ‘cut’ or any indication that the filming is over, making the beginning and format of a TV episode seem a bit pointless. With the running time being so short and crucial characters not being included, the play relies heavily on the audience already knowing the story of Much Ado as it simply doesn't have the time to properly tell it.

Similarly, the decision to mix it with Friends is a great idea, but this production doesn't seem to know why it has combined the two. The dialogue is all Shakespearean, whilst the costumes, setting and music are all that of the 90s, which doesn't work when there's no meaning to it. The Constellation Players players describe the show as “a fresh take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, reimagined through the lens of the iconic 90s sitcom Friends”, but the fresh take is, at best, unclear and at worst, not there. I can't help but wish they had taken a page out of Dave Malloy's book with his creation of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, which he adapted from seventy pages of Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace, as an ‘episode’ focused on one section of Shakespeare's play, explored more thoroughly and in sitcom style, could have worked great. For example, the ‘episode’ could solely be the scheming to get Beatrice and Benedict together with a quick, “last time on Much Ado About Nothing...” at the start to effectively retell a key plot line and comedic part of the play, and in doing so  delivering on the promise of a fresh take without trying to cram the whole thing into an hour.

The cast all perform well, but are limited by material that makes it hard to truly care about the characters they are playing, as it feels more like a quick rush through the play instead of an intentional performance with a modern day twist. It's frustrating as the show is so clearly full of potential, but currently appears to be simultaneously too ambitious and not ambitious enough. Sixty minutes is simply not enough time to properly tell the story it wants to tell, whilst for it to truly be a fresh take, the original play has to be altered more in a way that actually makes it feel fresh (maybe rewritten to be in modern day language?) for it to have the desired effect.

I understand that this review comes across as quite negative, but it isn't because I didn't like the show, it's because I see a really great idea with heaps of potential that with time and a good rewrite could be excellent. The Constellation Players are clearly passionate about what they do and that comes through the entire time, but for this to become the success it definitely could be, a lot of changes need to be made.

If the show finds its identity and is able to clearly demonstrate the ‘why’ of the Much Ado About Nothing and Friends concoction, then I see no reason why this version couldn't have a bright future ahead of it. I truly hope to see a new iteration of this concept sometime in the future, as with a brilliant idea as this and dedicated creators and performers like the Constellation Players, I think this could be the beginning of something special - it just isn't there yet.

Much Ado About Nothing played at the Bridewell Theatre on August 26th and 27th

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