Watching Shakespeare as an adult is wild and modern stages

 I have watched the David Tennant and Catherine Tate versions of Much Ado About Nothing, and they have it with the original wording, but with more modern sets and costumes and the inflections are very different.

I have realized a few things as an adult about Shakespeare's work and what some sections of the arts community consider his problem plays,  I can see where Romeo and Juliet is problematic as it’s often considered a romance but it is in classical terms when you go back to the 3 basic categories of a play being, comedy, romance and tragedy, it is a tragedy,  in terms of the ending that there is death.

Much ado about nothing is considered a romance and people,  often forget in the teaching of these plays that they are meant to be performances, and not analyzed to death, and that turns students off. I know that I was lucky to have an amazing family and teachers who got me interested in the arts and I have seen several of Shakespeare’s plays live by either professional actors bell Shakespeare or uni productions for third-year students.

 it but to show them the new staging and having actors that understand it is a gift I see that there are a few select people who do understand it and have a passion for it and one of these is David Tenant and we see that in this staging he was an executive producer, so he had a say in the cast, [i] and possibly would have his own money invested into it, people think that it’s mostly the producers that have a say, but it can also be, the executive producers that have a say in what is done.

In this staging, you can find the whole thing on YouTube and due to copyright, I will not put it up, but we see that you can find it on the Digital Threats website legally.

But there is something that I realized watching this and reading the comments section.  I see this isn’t a problem play in modern terms, but I could see problems in the time of its staging since the women in the play have a choice and we need to remember in Shakespeare’s time being an actor wasn’t seen with the glamor it is seen as today.  It wasn’t seen as a noble profession and being able to read and write was reserved for the upper class, so we need to remember that education was for the rich.

But in looking at this modern staging I see that Benedict and Bertice respect each other and the battle of wits is light flirting Beatrice is an orphan so might have trouble trusting people.  But we also see that in the second half, we realize that Benedict isn’t such a prat as we when Claudio and Hero are to be wed and are led to believe, that he is a massive prat and is committed to being a bachelor and not believe in love.

We don’t see him at what they stage as the parties for the bride and groom, and we see him believe that  Hero has been wrongly accused, as we see that Benedict can read in the first half and yes we see that he has a drinking problem, but we also see his rank in the army as well, so he is responsible for his soldier's behaviors.

We also see that some of the gags that they run are what Shakespeare would have wanted, such as the paint gag,  the social commentary about gossip ruining lives is really important in a culture that relies on reputation,  and we see that marrying for love was an upper-class luxury and hosting people was expected in the upper classes, and this is where they where hosting the company of men.  

We also see that Beatrice is unwilling to marry but we see that at the end of the play because of the trickery it is something that we need to be aware of that they might have had true feelings for each other and this is something that many people do miss, and I, to be honest, did simply pick up much more about the play in seeing the inflections and I realized how much innuendo is actually in the play.

We also see that Beatrice is played not as a powerless woman but as a mature woman who knows what she wants this is where people say that she should have remained unmarried, but it was custom at the time to be married to a woman, or to go into a religious order. So we see that she is agreeing to marry Benedict she is marrying for love and not for political or power reasons. I also see that Benedict treats her as an equal and we see that they have a lot of drinking or alcohol in the play and this means to show that the victory and hosting the company of men, is seen as a reason for the party.

I also see that this is something that I did already know David Tennant, can dance and dance well. He claims he isn’t but I think he is so humble and a dedicated family man so it makes sense that he would not claim to be a good dancer, I have seen him dance in several things but the thing that makes it difficult for him is the fact that he is so tall, so it would be difficult to find partners for him that match his height.

[i] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_producer 

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) - Wikipedia