The Stage Representation of the ‘Kill Claudio’ Sequence in Much Ado About Nothing

Summary

In the stage production of Much Ado About Nothing the subtle interplay of emotions, and the delicate tonal balance in the dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice at the end of the church scene, have always proved testing to the players. An examination of a range of English productions of Much Ado between Garrick and the mid–1950s highlights some of the principles of the dramatic organisation of this sequence, illustrating both the variety of legitimate interpretation which it admits, and the extent to which it has sometimes been falsified in the theatre.

The first point to emerge in the study is that the plausibility of the sequence depends to a large extent on the players' success in establishing a sense of continuity between the emotions aroused in the first part of the church scene, and the reactions of Benedick and Beatrice in their concluding dialogue. In the more sensitive performances, Beatrice and Benedick have shown in their solicitude for Hero at the altar1 a depth of sympathy sufficient to give their later confessions of love the degree of inevitability and seriousness which the text (despite its latent comic undertones) demands.