'Much Ado About Nothing' at the Noel Coward Theatre

Last week I went to see the hugely enjoyable new production of 'Much Ado About Nothing', the new Indian version by the Royal Shakespeare Company that is part of the World Shakespeare Festival 2012 and part of the London 2012 Festival.  It stars Meera Syal as Beatrice and Paul Bhattacharjee as Benedick.

The last time I saw this play was in 2008 at the National Theatre with Zoe Wannamaker and Simon Russell-Beale in the lead roles at the National Theatre and I thought it was a great production. It was fun, it was frivolous and it was serious by turns, with both stars falling into a pond at different times. I loved it and I even chuckled a bit. But, this new production went one better - it made me laugh out loud. At a Shakespeare play. At a Shakespeare comedy no less, and I never laugh at Shakespeare comedies. I blame Ms Meera Syal for that.

This great new production blurs (as theatricals will say) the fourth wall, in that the cast engage directly with the audience as we troop in and, occasionally, during the play, and that brings a new lease of life to it, making it real to us. The cast explode from the doors into the stalls and up the steps to the stage as well as entering from the stage and walking down steps from the Indian-style compound that makes up the set. The staging was excellent as was the really atmospheric and carefully judged lighting.

It was also lovely to see half of the 'Goodness Gracious Me' cast on stage together. As well as Meera Syal we also had Kulvinder Ghir as the rogue Borachio, who, by the end of the play was stripped down to just a pair of boxers as he was convicted of high crimes and misdemeanours. Before the play started I met him outside the gents toilets when he was interacting with random people. When he came up to me I put my hands together, bowed my head and said 'namaste' and that shut him up! Phew I escaped....

This is quite possibly the most enjoyable production of a Shakespeare play I have ever seen. I mean that. It made me laugh out loud and Meera and the rest of the cast wrung every possible laugh out of it with a raised eyebrow at just the right moment, a nod or a shake of a scarf.  It was all timed to perfection and I count myself lucky to have seen it.  It's only on for a few more weeks so grab a ticket while you can.

As well as Meera, Paul and Kulvinder, I'd pick out Madhav Sharma as Leonato who trikes the right balance between subject and offended father with many witty asides, milking it for all it's worth. I also liked Simon Nagra as Dogberry and Sharti Patel as Verges who both had great comic timing and engaged with the audience at the start and during the half-time. The only let down was the bloke who played Claudio as a block of wood.

If you get the chance, go and see this production. I don't think we'll be treated to anything like it for years to come so enjoy it now. And thank you to Meera for making me laugh at Shakespeare!