"This is symptomatic of a production that feels like it’s going through the motions, full of forced comic business to make up for its lack of heart. ... It’s not a bad show, exactly, just ponderous and hollow. This play should zing with witty repartee and with the thrilling, shocking sense that no one can trust their emotions: instead we get gelato, cravats and sunshine."
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"If this production has a fault it’s that it doesn’t feel even slightly urgent. It’s a luxuriant meander though ‘Much Ado’ that often seems immensely pleased with itself. ... Spending time at the Hotel Messina is a pleasure, a lazy holiday on which not a lot happens, very charmingly. It’s a wrench to leave."
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"The production does not, perhaps, plunge deeply enough into the play’s darkness, and no one actor commands our attention, but they all form a very able ensemble. ...this is a polished fantasy, extremely easy on the eye and a consummate midsummer comedy. You walk away not hugely moved or surprised – but certainly entertained."
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"Is it perfect? No, but it’s very serviceable in a bijou hotel kind of way – and there’ll be another one along, anytime soon; it’s a conveyor-belt classic."
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"Godwin, who would be many observers’ first choice to take over as artistic director at Stratford-upon-Avon, homes in on the human frailties at the core of the drama.Parkinson - is thoroughly at home with the production’s broad comic thrusts."
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"Godwin’s entire production is a feast of ideas, giving us a new point of interest in every scene- ... Crucially, each supports the text rather than overwhelming it. ... This whole production is a wonder too, and you will be just as helpless to resist."
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"The delicious design is matched by a production of both narrative and emotional clarity. Godwin’s style can sometimes feel aggressively slick, but for all its surface gloss this is an accessible production that hits the right beats. It’s a glittery, apolitical production but it’s well cast, stylish, summery stuff."
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"Unfortunately, there is something lacking from what seemed to be a promising offering from the National Theatre. The laughs are inconsistent and the drama inconsequential, though it has a handful of hilarious moments, the action on stage is never genuinely affecting."
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