"It's pink, it's loud – and it's irresistible," said Sarah Crompton on What's on Stage. Jamie Lloyd's production of Shakespeare's "best-loved and richest comedy" rides on a "wave of falling confetti and 1990s pop favourites"; it uses wonderfully choreographed disco dancing to illuminate the battle of the sexes, and features two glorious lead performances that manage to be both "truthful and incredibly funny".
It all makes for a "thoroughly weird and absolutely wonderful reconceptualisation", said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. Lloyd turns Shakespeare's "comedy, which narrowly swerves tragedy, into an old school house party cum modern romcom", with the sparring lovers clad in spangles, gold shimmer and sequins. It's a "wonderfully giddy thing" – and you'd have to be a "god of stone to not be seduced by its wacky joy".
This remarkably "infectious" production is blessed by actors who embrace the disco craziness with gusto, but have the acting chops to transcend it, said Susannah Clapp in The Observer. Tom Hiddleston has previously turned in triumphant performances as Cassio in Othello and as a "blazing" Coriolanus. Here, he "startlingly expands his Shakespearean range" with a display of nimble physical comedy. He "unbuttons his cerulean shirt to seduce his Beatrice", and "proves a swivel-hipped executor of embarrassing dancing".
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Hayley Atwell, too, has the ability to move "from wildness to serious romance without dropping a beat of the verse". Together, their Beatrice and Benedick are "full-on fiery and fleshy, making sexy sense of a couple who are often more shrivelled and sour", while also finding the sombre strains beneath the joy.
Lloyd has scrapped the Dogberry subplot, which has the effect of making the resolution of the main drama seem rather abrupt, said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times. "We lose too the potential social commentary embedded in the tale." Still, it is hard to quibble when the show is such a joy "from start to finish", boosted by outstanding performances across the board. "Heartbreak, hope, healing – it's all here in this gorgeous, bighearted production."
