Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.\u201cWe are the only love-gods\u201d, declares Don Pedro to Claudio and Leonato \u2014 with some flourish \u2014 in this effervescent staging of Much Ado About Nothing. Correction, gentlemen. I think you\u2019ll find Jamie Lloyd, who directed this glorious production of Shakespeare\u2019s romcom, is the Cupid of the moment. From start to finish, the show is a joy: a love song to the exhilaration, pain and giddy nonsense of passion, with Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell absolutely acing it at the helm.Lloyd unclips the play from its Italian setting and styles it as a kind of Nineties rave with its own lovestruck landscape (designed by Soutra Gilmour). Rosy confetti rains down on the performers, settling into sweet pink drifts across the stage; a giant inflatable heart rises above the action like a moon; the drama is punctuated by serious consumption of shots, delirious dancing to club hits and Mason Alexander Park singing soulful covers.Gone is the war \u2014 here the men strut into the arena to the Beastie Boys\u2019 \u201c(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)\u201d. Gone, too, is the subplot involving the officious officer-of-the-law Dogberry, which makes for a rather abrupt resolution of the drama. We lose too the potential social commentary embedded in the tale. But the result is a fleet, focused and very funny production that, amid all the riotous partying, charts beautifully the play\u2019s soaring highs and darker depths.At its heart is the \u201cmerry war\u201d between Beatrice and Benedick, the couple who protest their loathing of each other, all the while yearning for connection. Atwell and Hiddleston are superb, throwing some fabulous shapes and bringing pinpoint timing to their characters\u2019 quicksilver wit, but also picking their way poignantly through the couple\u2019s warring emotions.Hiddleston\u2019s Benedick is impishly charming, savouring his own waggishness, flirting with the audience \u2014 \u201cCertain I am loved of all ladies\u201d, he says, with a saucy wink at the stalls \u2014 and rolling beneath piles of confetti as he attempts to conceal himself to overhear the conspirators. But he\u2019s also immensely touching in his astonishment that Beatrice may care for him \u2014 \u201cLove me?\u201d he whispers. \u201cWhy?\u201d \u2014 and quietly sincere in his resolution to avenge Claudio\u2019s wronging of Hero.Atwell responds with a Beatrice of mercurial intelligence and emotional truth. In a brilliant move, she doesn\u2019t hide to eavesdrop on her fate, but stands, motionless, her conflicting feelings scudding across her face. Tiny shifts in her voice and body language betray to us the hurt within and the way she projects insouciant wit to protect her heart.The irony is that, beneath their prickly exteriors, these two care deeply for one another, whereas love\u2019s young dream, in the shape of the impetuous Claudio (James Phoon) and eager Hero (Mara Huf), evaporates at the first hurdle. Claudio\u2019s cruel jilting of Hero is a terrible moment, Shakespeare reminding you that, banter aside, mistrust between men and women can have devastating consequences. Lloyd manages the shift skilfully: there\u2019s a sudden iciness and, for the first time, the confetti stops falling.And there are many thorns among these roses: we notice Gerald Kyd\u2019s Prince, drowning loneliness in drink, and Tim Steed as his \u201cvillainous\u201d brother, playing up to the role expected. Heartbreak, hope, healing \u2014 it\u2019s all here in this gorgeous, big-hearted production.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605To April 5, lwtheatres.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.\u201cWe are the only love-gods\u201d, declares Don Pedro to Claudio and Leonato \u2014 with some flourish \u2014 in this effervescent staging of Much Ado About Nothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214077,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214075\/revisions\/214077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}