Author: William Shakespeare adapted by Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare
Directors: Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare
Making a film based on a play by The Bard of Avon seems a pre-destined choice for Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare AKA The Shakespeare Sisters. Much Ado About Nothing (adapted as Much Ado) is another logical choice being a play to which a contemporary audience can relate easily, the humour is verbal rather than physical and the central concept- a couple whose squabbling conceals their mutual attraction- is the basis for any number of modern rom-coms.
When the bus transporting a student rugby team breaks down coach Antonio (Toby Wynn-Davies) asks his brother Leonato (Peter Saracen) to accommodate them at his somewhat palatial country residence. This is good news for Claudio (Luke Hunter) who is attracted to Leonato’s daughter Hero (Jody Larcombe) but less so for his friend Benedick (Johnny Lucas). Benedick and Leonato’s niece Beatrice (Emma Beth Jones) had a school romance that did not end well, and she is not pleased to see him. John (Jack Boal) the alienated brother of team captain Pedro (James McClelland) is looking for trouble and plots to disgrace Hero while Benedick’s friends think it would be hilarious to trick him and Beatrice into recognising their attraction and falling in love.
The film has been described as Shakespeare re-imagined as a ‘Skins’ episode. It is, however, far from decadent. The house party at the start has a drunken guest being sick and a used condom is found the next day, but the students all behave as if they are being watched by their parents and keep the revelry low-key. Similarly, the passion between Beatrice and Benedick is on a low boil rather than the can’t- keep-their-hands-off-each-other approach of the teens in, say, Normal People.
There is a fairy tale aspect to the film. It is shot in lazy summer sunshine and Leonato’s property, with swimming pool, tennis courts, sauna and wine cellar, is so lavish as to give Rishi Sunak pause. Love is examined from a variety of angles. The romantic Hero anxiously reading up on what to expect when having sex for the first time while her cousin affects a cynical attitude stuffing condoms in her pocket but still sneaking a loving look at the book Benedick has been reading. Benedick meanwhile carries himself like a bemused schoolboy unsure what offence he has committed.
The Shakespeare Sisters retain the original dialogue from the play (with the occasion tweak to reflect the age of the characters) but use natural speech rhythms instead of iambic pentameter and try to avoid any staginess. Monologues are turned into conversations even if that means one of the parties never actually gets to speak. In the sequence where Beatrice and Benedick are tricked into love Benedick’s speech is turned into a one-sided conversation while Beatrice’s desperate efforts to hide while eavesdropping are as in the original play – the latter works best.
The non-verbal aspects of the film work really well. When Beatrice’s flirtation with Pedro goes too far and she attempts a distraction asking if he has any brothers, it has a devastating impact upon John, his actual brother, standing nearby and visibly aggrieved at being ignored.
The most radical aspect of Much Ado is the decision of The Shakespeare Sisters to treat it not as a straightforward comedy but as a drama-comedy indeed close to a tragedy. The villainous conspiracy in the play is uncovered accidently by a ramshackle ‘Dad’s Army’ group of constables under a pompous commander given to malapropisms. In the film they translate into sorority pledges but as such characters have no authority to apprehend or detain the adaptation does not really work and the roles are substantially reduced losing much of the outright comedy.
Hero’s disgrace, manufactured by the villainous John, is played for full tragedy with her being found floating in a pond in the manner of John Everett Millais’s painting of Ophelia. For a film in which youth is the dominant feature Much Ado has a surprisingly reflective aspect in particular the rueful approach taken by Emma Beth Jones and Johnny Lucas to the central love affair.
While Much Ado might not achieve all of The Shakespeare Sisters’ ambitions it remains an engaging film well worth watching.
Much Ado is screening at Culture Lab, Newcastle on 20 November 2022.
