Much Ado About Nothing / New York Shakespeare Festival (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare Meets the Old West
Review: I first saw this version of Much Ado about Nothing in the '70's, and have remembered it ever since, so I was delighted when the Broadway Theatre Archive made it available again. The setting, the "Rough Riders" era of the turn of the century, somehow suits the material better than any other I've seen, in particular Dogberry and his inept Watchmen, who appear here as Keystone Kops. Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes are both completely believable, and the supporting cast is excellent.

This version is for those who want to savor every moment of the play. As far as I could tell, it includes almost every word of Shakespeare's text, and to that are added quite a few sequences without dialogue, making the entire length of the production closer to three hours than to two. For this play, this is definitely to my taste, but may not be to everyone's.

The DVD includes nothing but the performance and scene selections (by acts only). Since this play was originally filmed for television, the visual and sound quality are not exceptional, although they're not actually bad.

Rating:
Summary: Playful reworking of one of the Bard's best comedies
Review: I saw this version of one of Shakespeare's "war of the sexes" comedies when it was first broadcast on television in 1970. I was immediately won over to the idea that an intelligent director and ensemble could do a lot to make Shakespeare accessible to a new generation by simply setting his plays in a different era. The turn-of-the-century American setting worked perfectly. The women challenge male authority by sneaking a smoke, Dogberry and his entourage are portrayed as Keystone cops. The cast was excellent. Kathleen Widdoes and Sam Waterson were equally convincing in their gender battles, their self-righteous moments, and in their tender love scenes.

What struck me on my recent viewing was just how dark this comedy gets. Claudio is easily convinced of his fiancee's infidelity and publicly humiliates her and repudiates his vows. Although everything, and everyone, is reconciled in the end, we realize that the turf between true heroes and true villains is amply populated with fools, wimps, and cads.

Athough this is more of a filmed stage production than a movie version of the play, it is cleverly filmed and engaging. Personally, I prefer this version to Branaugh's filmed version (which I enjoyed immensely but felt it was less faithful to Shakespeare's text.) Unfortunately, there are no real DVD extras to this landmark production; but the performance is worth the purchase price.