REVIEW: Much Ado About Nothing, Theatre Royal Bath. IT is hard enough for actors for whom English is their first language to make Shakespeare's 16th century dialogue meaningful and comprehensible.

To tackle as a foreign language the poetry and prose of a writer revered as possibly the greatest of all time, is positively intimidating.

But the Bremer Shakespeare Company, from Bremen in Germany, is dedicated to the Bard and moreover, dedicated to making his work accessible.

True, three of the ensemble company of five performing no fewer than 14 roles here, are English.

Nonetheless the ethos of the group is German and it is fascinating to see how the two national styles of poetry and humour are blended. The two clowns, Dogberry and Verges (Will Thorp and Ricky Fearon) are allowed a very free hand with both dialogue and slapstick.

While they are at times a little ponderous, Susanne Hhne , who doubles as the minor heroine's slightly arch mother, Leonata, and the comically devious dwarf Borachio, is sparkling in her contrasting roles. Borachio is a particularly striking cartoon-like creation.

It is essentially a love story, in which Benedick and Beatrice (Ian Shaw and Annette Ziellenbach), who do nothing but fence words and wits whenever they meet, discover their love for one another with the connivance of their friends.

But director Peter Lchinger has created three parallel romances, by changing Shakespeare's father figure of Leonato into the mother, Leonata, who is thus able to complete the trio of romances by courting the king, Don Pedro (Ricky Fearon).

Lchinger also explores the potential for tragedy in the treachery of Don Pedro's renegade brother who does his best to wreck the romantic progress with wicked deception, which dishonours Lady Hero in the eyes of her future husband Claudio.

Now here is an interesting piece of gender reversal casting - Lady Hero is played by Will Thorp and Claudio by Annette Ziellenbach. It works well for the comedy, but it is hard to take the serious bits seriously. I suspect the reasons for the switch are logistic, rather than artistic. But I could be wrong.

Overall it is a clear, understandable interpretation, and enormous fun.

No small contribution is made by Lou Simard, musician, special effects and singer, on stage throughout. She was an attraction in her own right with a fascinating array of instruments and gadgets, the most intriguing of which was a large wheel, like an upright drum skin, dotted with holes and with strings stretched across to a central fulcrum. It was capable of being struck, plucked or bowed to produce an astonishing range of sounds.

By Jo Bayne

Much Ado About Nothing

Bremer Shakespeare Company

Theatre Royal Bath

Bath Shakespeare Festival