Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon

The Unicorn Theatre, inside the abbey in Abingdon, dates back to the medieval period. It boasts an Elizabethan stage - a fitting venue for Shakespeare.
This production takes full advantage of the theatre's ideal pre-twentieth century set, and so avoids the pre-occupation of having to perform Shakespeare's plays in a present day context in order to create a modern interpretation. Time, we are told is irrelevant. Costumes were chosen that look nice, mostly from around the 19th century.
The play concentrates on characterisation and communicating the truly timeless nature of that which touches and relates to our lives; and firmly anchors the play in the modern imagination. Members of the cast engage in their roles and portray authentic, feeling human beings. Benedick and Beatrice are exemplary in this. Benedick thought he would remain a bachelor before he knew what it was to be married, but he finds he cannot resist Beatrice who is fair and wise and virtuous. Beatrice is ambiguously passionate and outspoken. Their difficult relationship is equally founded on personality and animated conversation as it is on sex - Benedick does not care what colour her hair is - and the characters portrayed are sympathetic and comfortingly familiar to the modern audience.
The production also gives full expression to delicious moments of social satire - the church and the police - for which the audience needs little familiarisation. Master Constable Dogberry, with a vastly over-inflated notion of his own intelligence, and who cannot even number his points correctly, is hilarious, and fully exploits latent comic opportunity, which so importantly, keeps the play alive.

This is the first Shakespeare in the Studio Theatre Club's thirty-year life. The Studio Theatre Club is an independent, amateur dramatic company, with an ethos of being unpretentious (you don't have a be a luvvie to join!), and exploring new ideas and developing local talent. A group of actors undertook this play in the belief that Shakespeare is accessible to their own dramatic and creative abilities and potential, and to a diverse audience. In this, the performance is a wholehearted success, does full justice to the play and deserves support, beyond its strong Abingdon following. A visit to the theatre in the abbey - a ten mile/20 minute drive from Oxford - will be worthwhile and enjoyable. Best of all, mulled wine is served by friendly members of the company before the play and during the interval!

Stephanie Kitchen 27/02/02