Much Ado About Nothing: a warm, witty and controversy-free start to the Globe’s summer season

Though the weather may be miserable and cold, the Globe’s summer season opener is anything but. Sean Holmes’s new production lets us forget about the fact that we’re still wrapped up in winter coats by whisking us away to the blisteringly hot climes of Renaissance Italy, with beautifully-styled orange trees and crates full of fruit populating the stage to create a sun-soaked, golden hue. With the men returning from war, it’s time for a battle of the sexes. Let the chaos commence.

The Globe has recently come under fire for casting its artistic director Michelle Terry – an able-bodied actress – as Richard III in an upcoming production. But this traditional, Elizabethan-dress take on Much Ado About Nothing is about as uncontroversial a start to the season as you can get. One of Shakespeare’s stronger comedies, it’s an easy win (which explains why it was last staged here just two years ago, albeit with the action moved to 1945).

At its heart is the “merry war” of wit between Benedick and Beatrice, both disdainful of marriage, and whose vanities are delightfully quashed to reveal their repressed feelings for each other. Ekow Quartey gives a wonderfully nuanced turn as the swaggering Benedick, whose bravado is pierced when his verbal sparring with Beatrice goes awry – then turns all giddy and bashful when he discovers her ‘love’ for him.

Amalia Vitale’s acerbic Beatrice, pouring scorn on Benedick and railing against marriage, always has a quip ready, and milks every line for its comic potential (although there’s little insight into what’s lurking beneath this sardonic exterior which, at times, feels a little one-note). The pair’s bickering is sparky and fun, but their awkward romantic chemistry never quite convinces.

Holmes keeps things simple: there are no elaborate tricks in the famous ‘gulling’ scenes, where Beatrice and Benedick’s friends fool them into acknowledging their emotions. The slapstick is efficient but effective. Eavesdropping on Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato’s conversation from above, Quartey’s comic timing as Benedick is spot on, whether he’s accidentally dropping an orange onto Leonato’s head or trying to blend in by pretending to be a tree.

Yet amid all the fun, there’s a sinister edge to the Bard’s comedy, when the other romance involving the more impulsive couple – Claudio (Benedick’s friend) and Hero (Beatrice’s cousin) – turns tragic. Holmes’s production, however, is resistant to lean too heavily into these darker elements.

The fresh-faced Adam Wadsworth plays up to the idea of Claudio as a misguided and immature boy in the more serious scenes. He’s seen throwing a tantrum when his jealousy gets the better of him, and his jilting of Hero at the altar is pathetic rather than malicious or callous. However, this dampens the impact of that horrible moment. Likewise, when Beatrice asks Benedick to “kill Claudio”, it’s rather jarring that Vitale goes for (and receives) laughs. Still, the Globe’s show is a joyous – if overly glossy – affair that certainly brightens up a drizzly evening.

Until August 24; shakespearesglobe.com