Review: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST & MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Orange Tree on the Hill

There has long been discussion that Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing may have been intended to be connected in some way. Love's Labour's Lost ends abruptly with no conclusion to the promises of rekindling love connections and Much Ado About Nothing never explains the origins of the incredibly fractious relationship between Benedick and Beatrice. Christopher Luscombe paired the two plays back in 2015 at the RSC and now director Tom Littler successfully stitches both plays together in gorgeous al fresco productions, as the Orange Tree theatre continues its renovation.

A co-production with Guildford Shakespeare Company, it's an ambitious premise, but works beautifully. Littler sets Love's Labour's Lost in 1939, as the spectre of war looms over the characters, coming back together in 1945 as the end of the war is announced on the wireless. There are clever adaptations of names and characters; Benedick Berowne and Claudio Dumain combine the names in the two plays and Rosaline and Katherine are named Beatrice and Hero throughout. Curate Nathaniel and superior Holofernes appear in both plays, as themselves in the first, then taking on the roles of the neighbourhood watchmen in the second. Constable 'Dull' Dogberry is another constant character. 

Littler has a very intuitive handle on the two stories, leaning into the huge amount of humour, then shocking the audience by the starkness of the mood changes when the French Princess learns of her father's death and again when Claudio shames Hero at the altar. There is a very natural flow to both productions, which you could easily watch independently, but would miss out on so many clever details if you did so. It's fascinating to see the connections between the characters in the plays, from Longaville morphing into the villanous Don John and how Beatrice's softness becomes tougher and more brittle.

The cast of ten is excellent, with huge energy, versatility and fluency. James Sheldon is really wonderful as Benedick Berowne; witty and charming, with excellent comic timing. His attempts to hide as he eavesdrops on the conversation about how much Beatrice loves him is simply hilarious. He is well matched by a adept and quick-witted Phoebe Pryce as Beatrice, who shows a visible hardening in her character after the end of the war.

Joëlle Brabban is a hugely likable Moth, moving to a delightfully innocent Hero. Chirag Benedict Lobo gives a thoughtful character arc to Claudio Dumain, starting as a fun-loving young man in Love's Labour's Lost, then demonstrating rash and thoughtless cruelty towards Hero. Could the impact of the war explain his behaviour? It's an interesting concept that could be explored further.

Neil Irish’s set bases the action around a little jetty off an imaginary village green, with 'Costards' bar stocked with a working beer pump and various vintage spirit bottles. A small rowing boat is advertised at two shillings a turn and the whole area is bedecked with red, white and blue bunting. This cleverly changes in the second play, the bar and boat mothballed with sheeting and barbed wire sits atop the hedging, ready to be removed as the village comes back to life as war ends.

Irish's costumes are also brimming with immaculate period detail, with delicate gloves, bias cut dresses and linen for 1939, which move to RAF uniforms and more practical tweeds for 1945. Matt Eaton’s sound design is incredibly thoughtful, in perfect synergy with the bucolic outdoor setting. 

Witty, smart and ingeniously staged, this is a summer treat that's also a must-see.

Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing run at Orange Tree on the Hill, Thomas's College, Richmond until 22 August

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