It’s electrifying when something happens on the stage of this galleried, open-air wooden theatre that causes a collective intake of breath or an explosion of laughter from the encircling audience of up to 1500 people. There are many such moments in Chelsea Walker’s energetic and distinctive staging of Shakespeare’s comedy.
Ken Nwosu and Pippa Nixon have a lively, witty chemistry as the reluctant, verbally sparring lovers Benedick and Beatrice. There’s both an undercurrent of seriousness and an attention to background detail that makes the humour of the play really sing. Since it’s a curriculum staple we’ve seen a lot of London Much Ados recently, including another at the Globe in 2024 and Jamie Lloyd’s starry Hayley Atwell/Tom Hiddlestone danceathon at Drury Lane in 2025. Walker’s version stands with the best of them.
