Genre:

Theatre

Release Date:

Sep 2015

Subtitles:

EN

Sound Format:

2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Catalog Number:

OABD7178D

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Won (or Much Ado About Nothing) (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Sam Alexander (Don John ); David Horovitch (Leonato); Edward Bennett (Benedick); Michelle Terry (Beatrice); Tunji Kasim (Claudio); Chris Nayak (Borachio); Flora Spencer-Longhurst (Hero); Nick Haverson (Dogberry); Emma Manton (Margeret); Chris McCalphy (Sexton); Frances McNamee (Ursula); Chris Nayak (Borachio);

Autumn 1918. A group of soldiers returns from the trenches. The world weary Benedick and his friend Claudio find themselves reacquainted with Beatrice and Hero. As memories of conflict give way to a life of parties and masked balls, Claudio and Hero fall madly, deeply in love, while Benedick and Beatrice reignite their own rather more combative courtship. Shakespeare's comic romance plays out amidst the brittle high spirits of a post-war house party, as youthful passions run riot, lovers are deceived and happiness is threatened – before peace ultimately wins out.

Reviews

"This is the most blissfully entertaining and emotionally involving RSC offering I’ve seen in ages." (The Daily Telegraph ★★★★★)

"This is, in its entirety, an endeavour that sings: poignant, impassioned and gorgeous ... Brilliantly comic…extraordinarily powerful." (The Times ★★★★★)

"A marvel … immaculately co-ordinated." (The Daily Mail ★★★★★)

"These productions are a joy … Edward Bennett and Michelle Terry make a splendid pairing." (The Sunday Times ★★★★)

"This imaginative pairing makes total sense. If love is thwarted in the first play, it is triumphantly fulfilled in the second." (The Guardian ★★★★)