And back by (un)popular demand - Shakespeare! Saw Much Do About Nothing at the RSC last night. The modern hook was to stage the play (originally set in Messina, Sicily) in Messina FC just after they have won a major European competition (it’s a war originally). The governor becomes the teams owner, the duke the team manager, and the main romantic leads players, the women being a broadcaster and the daughter of the owner. Considerable effort goes into setting up this scenario in the first twenty minutes, including a very clever set, and then it seems to be forgotten about. Which was a shame as it’s an odd play, half comedy half rather nasty about a girl being falsely accused of something and all of the men, including her father and her fiancé, immediately believing she is guilty. It is, of course, unknown whether Shakespeare was making a point or whether it’s just a misogynistic story line. But it worked well in the context of modern footballers, but by that stage the football setting was largely forgotten.
Enjoyable stuff. Usual Shakespearean guff about hidden and mistaken identities, and the baddie who sets up the heroine has no motivation to do this and then simply disappears, which is odd. Overall well acted and good use of (modern) music.