British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Much Ado About Nothing

Synopsis
A video recording, using a single, fixed camera, of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1988 studio production of Much Ado About Nothing set in the 1950s. Directed by Di Trevis with Clive Merrison as Benedick and Maggie Steed as Beatrice. Ralph Fiennes plays Claudio.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
4 Jan 1988
Duration
162 mins

Credits

Director
Di Trevis
Writer
William Shakespeare
Music
Dominic Muldowney
Production Design
Mark Thompson
Cast
Maggie SteedBeatrice
Clive MerrisonBenedick
Ralph FiennesClaudio
David LyonDon Pedro
David WallerDogberry
Antony BrownLeonato
Candida GubbinsNurse
Caroline HardingUrsula
Darryl Forbes-DawsonSexton
Denise ArmonMargaret
Edward HarbourWatchman
Edward HarbourFriar Francis
Jeffrey SegalVerges
Jo JamesWatchman
Jo JamesWatchman
Julia FordHero
Kenn SabbertonBalthasar
Patrick RobinsonConrade
Raymond BowersAntonio
Richard BremmerGeorge Seacoal (Watchman (1))
Robert DemegerDon John
Roger WatkinsBorachio
Simon DormandyHugh Oatcake (Watchman (2))

Additional Details

Production type
Stage Recordings
Historical period
1950s
Plays
Much Ado About Nothing
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
"Di Trevis has turned Messina into a fashionable Fifties Lido, where the ladies lounge around in sun suits and bathing costumes that beg for Vogue to put them on its cover." Jack Tinker, Daily Mail (14 April 1988).
Figures
Press night 13 April 1988. The production transferred to the Barbican.
Stills
Stills from, and design notes on, the production are available on the Arts and Humanities Performing Arts Data Service (AHDS) at http://ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/collections/designing-shakespeare.htm
Reviews
Smallwood, Robert Shakespeare Quarterly 40 (1989) pp 83-94 (review article).

Production Company

Name

Royal Shakespeare Company

Web
https://www.rsc.org.uk External site opens in new window
Address
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Waterside
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
CV37 6BB

Archive

Name

Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive

Email
scla@shakespeare.org.uk
Web
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/ External site opens in new window
Phone
01789 204016 (bookings)
Fax
01789 262073
Address
Henley Street
Stratford-upon-Avon
CV37 6QW

Record Stats

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