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Much Ado about Hiddles and Hayley
Mar. 6th, 2025 03:48 pmWhile we saw a lot of fun stuff on our trip to London at the beginning of March, the biggest reason we went was to see a production of Much Ado About Nothing starring Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston, and I am delighted to say it alone was worth the trip.
It was in the Royal Theatre Drury Lane in the West End, one of the oldest and most historic theaters in the area. It was a beautiful building, full of artifacts from past shows and paintings and sculptures of great theater artists and depictions of plays. There was a grand stair on each side, called the King’s Way and the Prince’s Way, a relic from when George III and the Prince Regent couldn’t stand each other, and wanted a way to attend on the same nights without having to run into each other. 😆
The show itself was, of course, very professionally done, not with particularly complicated staging or properties but executed to perfection. The only set was a few chairs and sometimes a table, along with a giant heart balloon lowered from the fly system. The stage floor was covered with pink ticker tape, which floated in light showers throughout, and poured down in a deluge at particular dramatic moments. The lighting was expertly designed, used to visually shorten and lengthen the rear of the stage depending on the scene, and beautifully bouncing off the smoke and ticker tape. While I love the scrappier, DIY-type fringe theater I see more often, it’s really nice to see high-budget, high-skill execution like this once in a while.
The script was cut down interestingly, in a way that basically worked. Dogberry and the citizen-police were cut entirely, but since they went with an overall silly take on all the action and the characters, I honestly didn’t really miss them. The only thing that felt a little off about it was that Don John end up kind of disappearing from the narrative in a way that felt like a dangling thread. Still, it made things tighter and move faster, and I was constantly laughing and not bored for a moment.
As I said, the overall vibe was very light, silly, and glitzy. They played up the ridiculousness of all the characters, even Beatrice and Benedick, and had lots of singing and dancing interludes. Many of the transitions between scenes were done by having the actor playing Margaret sing a pop song while the rest of the cast danced behind her. It was fun and energetic, and I enjoyed that it wasn’t taking itself very seriously, including by letting the dancing, while choreographed, have the vibe of people having fun at a wedding rather than like some intense musical theater style number.
The only bit that I thought was a little dumb I ended up forgiving because it made me laugh. There’s a bit in the script where it refers to the leads having pictures of each other… and the way they chose to represent those pictures was with life-size cardboard standees of Captain Carter and Loki. Definitely dumb, definitely fan service, definitely kind of an eye roller. But hell, I crossed an ocean because I wanted to see Loki and Peggy Carter in a play together, so I guess I can’t criticize.
The cast was great across the board, particularly the gender-non-conforming actor they had playing Margaret. But both Hiddleston and Atwell were as wonderful as I hoped they’d be. They both did an excellent job of balancing the general silliness of the piece with bringing real humanity to their roles. Their facility with Shakespeare was clear. Hiddleston is classically trained and I believe was primarily a stage actor before Marvel discovered him, and he makes the lines sound as natural as breathing. Atwell was a blast to watch, sassy, smart, tough, and vulnerable all at once. Her reading of “EAT HIS HEART IN THE MARKETPLACE” made me whoop. They were totally game for the intense and often ridiculous blocking, be it the dancing, mugging, or romance.
And I have to say, my OTP may pair Hayley with my boy Chris, but her and Tom did make for a very sexy couple. She is a gorgeous woman— interestingly leaner here than I remember from the Captain America films —with a fabulous voice and an athletic, energetic presence that just radiates personality. And I thought he was scorching hot; even as a longtime Marvel fan, it took me a little while to see his particular appeal, but I think if I hadn’t gotten there already his presence here would have sold me. He is so tall and lean, with a long-limbed precision of movement that went from comedic looseness to sharp sexiness with ease. And he is STILL in Marvel shape— he had a moment where he unbuttoned his shirt to show a set of pecs and abs that punched all the way to the balcony. (Yeah, there was probably some makeup involved, but still!) Plus that silky baritone voice is made for Shakespeare. It’s clear why Branagh wanted him for the first Thor movie.
So I had a wonderful time. It was one of the more fun theatrical experiences I’ve had, funny and exciting and not dull for a moment. Even if we hadn’t enjoyed anything else on our London trip (which we definitely did) this show would have made it worth it for me.
It was in the Royal Theatre Drury Lane in the West End, one of the oldest and most historic theaters in the area. It was a beautiful building, full of artifacts from past shows and paintings and sculptures of great theater artists and depictions of plays. There was a grand stair on each side, called the King’s Way and the Prince’s Way, a relic from when George III and the Prince Regent couldn’t stand each other, and wanted a way to attend on the same nights without having to run into each other. 😆
The show itself was, of course, very professionally done, not with particularly complicated staging or properties but executed to perfection. The only set was a few chairs and sometimes a table, along with a giant heart balloon lowered from the fly system. The stage floor was covered with pink ticker tape, which floated in light showers throughout, and poured down in a deluge at particular dramatic moments. The lighting was expertly designed, used to visually shorten and lengthen the rear of the stage depending on the scene, and beautifully bouncing off the smoke and ticker tape. While I love the scrappier, DIY-type fringe theater I see more often, it’s really nice to see high-budget, high-skill execution like this once in a while.
The script was cut down interestingly, in a way that basically worked. Dogberry and the citizen-police were cut entirely, but since they went with an overall silly take on all the action and the characters, I honestly didn’t really miss them. The only thing that felt a little off about it was that Don John end up kind of disappearing from the narrative in a way that felt like a dangling thread. Still, it made things tighter and move faster, and I was constantly laughing and not bored for a moment.
As I said, the overall vibe was very light, silly, and glitzy. They played up the ridiculousness of all the characters, even Beatrice and Benedick, and had lots of singing and dancing interludes. Many of the transitions between scenes were done by having the actor playing Margaret sing a pop song while the rest of the cast danced behind her. It was fun and energetic, and I enjoyed that it wasn’t taking itself very seriously, including by letting the dancing, while choreographed, have the vibe of people having fun at a wedding rather than like some intense musical theater style number.
The only bit that I thought was a little dumb I ended up forgiving because it made me laugh. There’s a bit in the script where it refers to the leads having pictures of each other… and the way they chose to represent those pictures was with life-size cardboard standees of Captain Carter and Loki. Definitely dumb, definitely fan service, definitely kind of an eye roller. But hell, I crossed an ocean because I wanted to see Loki and Peggy Carter in a play together, so I guess I can’t criticize.
The cast was great across the board, particularly the gender-non-conforming actor they had playing Margaret. But both Hiddleston and Atwell were as wonderful as I hoped they’d be. They both did an excellent job of balancing the general silliness of the piece with bringing real humanity to their roles. Their facility with Shakespeare was clear. Hiddleston is classically trained and I believe was primarily a stage actor before Marvel discovered him, and he makes the lines sound as natural as breathing. Atwell was a blast to watch, sassy, smart, tough, and vulnerable all at once. Her reading of “EAT HIS HEART IN THE MARKETPLACE” made me whoop. They were totally game for the intense and often ridiculous blocking, be it the dancing, mugging, or romance.
And I have to say, my OTP may pair Hayley with my boy Chris, but her and Tom did make for a very sexy couple. She is a gorgeous woman— interestingly leaner here than I remember from the Captain America films —with a fabulous voice and an athletic, energetic presence that just radiates personality. And I thought he was scorching hot; even as a longtime Marvel fan, it took me a little while to see his particular appeal, but I think if I hadn’t gotten there already his presence here would have sold me. He is so tall and lean, with a long-limbed precision of movement that went from comedic looseness to sharp sexiness with ease. And he is STILL in Marvel shape— he had a moment where he unbuttoned his shirt to show a set of pecs and abs that punched all the way to the balcony. (Yeah, there was probably some makeup involved, but still!) Plus that silky baritone voice is made for Shakespeare. It’s clear why Branagh wanted him for the first Thor movie.
So I had a wonderful time. It was one of the more fun theatrical experiences I’ve had, funny and exciting and not dull for a moment. Even if we hadn’t enjoyed anything else on our London trip (which we definitely did) this show would have made it worth it for me.
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