As both off-stage chums and longtime theatrical colleagues, Maev Beaty and Graham Abbey already have a decidedly strong chemistry.

And it’s a chemistry that serves as the foundation for the Stratford Festival’s uproariously funny production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, where the two actors star as the oft-bickering Beatrice and Benedick.

On their own, Abbey and Beaty both demonstrate considerable comedic chops while their characters unwittingly fall prey to their friends’ schemes to have them fall in love. The actors pontificate on the notion of love and their characters’ initial antipathy for the other, delivering the Bard’s soliloquies and, in Benedick’s case, repartee with the audience with impeccable timing. Beaty and Abbey also hilariously scramble about the stage in not-so-secret, perfectly choreographed and satisfyingly parallel efforts to overhear their friends as they, in turn, coyly plant the seeds of love.

But together, whether it’s a verbal sparring match or the eventual realization their characters are, in fact, in love as Beaty leaps into Abbey’s arms for an impassioned kiss, the pair of thespians have no trouble stealing nearly every scene they’re in.

Yet while the audience, as well as many of the characters on stage, actively root for the once-hostile lovers to end up with each other, Don John’s (Michael Blake) far more dastardly plot to drive a wedge between the soon-to-be wed Claudio (Austin Eckert) and Hero (Austin Edwards-Crewe) offers ample opportunity for the rest of the cast to steal the spotlight both comedically and dramatically.

Josue Laboucane as Constable of Messina Dogberry, John Kirkpatrick as deputy constable Verges, Kevin Kruchkywich as Seacoal and the other members of the watch manage to deliver nearly non-stop laughs as they methodically and fumblingly dismantle Don John’s plan after overhearing conspirators Borachio (Jakob Ehman) and Conrade (Cyrus Lane) drunkenly discussing the payment for their participation in skullduggery.

Meanwhile, Eckert, Edwards-Crewe, Patrick McManus as Leonato and André Sills as Don Pedro provide stark counterpoints to the play’s comedic levity through their entirely believable portrayals of outrage, shock, sorrow, indignation and penance as Don John’s planted deception first hits its mark and then quickly unravels.

Any review of this production would be remiss without special mention of the set design, which features an impressively large and realistic tree with a canopy that dapples the overhead lighting in such a way that closely mimics any time of day, be it late afternoon or the middle of the night, at Leonato’s lush Italian villa.

The addition in this production of three onstage musicians – George Meanwell, Jonathan Roswell and Stephan Szczesniak – also serves to enhance the needed sense of luxury, regality and revelry that Shakespeare’s tale of love and deception needs to truly come alive.

When all is said and done, the Stratford Festival’s 2023 production of Much Ado About Nothing gives its audiences the chance to experience the play in a way that puts Shakespeare’s considerable humour and the actors’ world-class talents on full display.

Much Ado About Nothing runs in repertory at the Festival Theatre until Oct. 27.

As both off-stage chums and longtime theatrical colleagues, Maev Beaty and Graham Abbey already have a decidedly strong chemistry.

And it’s a chemistry that serves as the foundation for the Stratford Festival’s uproariously funny production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, where the two actors star as the oft-bickering Beatrice and Benedick.

On their own, Abbey and Beaty both demonstrate considerable comedic chops while their characters unwittingly fall prey to their friends’ schemes to have them fall in love. The actors pontificate on the notion of love and their characters’ initial antipathy for the other, delivering the Bard’s soliloquies and, in Benedick’s case, repartee with the audience with impeccable timing. Beaty and Abbey also hilariously scramble about the stage in not-so-secret, perfectly choreographed and satisfyingly parallel efforts to overhear their friends as they, in turn, coyly plant the seeds of love.

But together, whether it’s a verbal sparring match or the eventual realization their characters are, in fact, in love as Beaty leaps into Abbey’s arms for an impassioned kiss, the pair of thespians have no trouble stealing nearly every scene they’re in.

Yet while the audience, as well as many of the characters on stage, actively root for the once-hostile lovers to end up with each other, Don John’s (Michael Blake) far more dastardly plot to drive a wedge between the soon-to-be wed Claudio (Austin Eckert) and Hero (Austin Edwards-Crewe) offers ample opportunity for the rest of the cast to steal the spotlight both comedically and dramatically.

Josue Laboucane as Constable of Messina Dogberry, John Kirkpatrick as deputy constable Verges, Kevin Kruchkywich as Seacoal and the other members of the watch manage to deliver nearly non-stop laughs as they methodically and fumblingly dismantle Don John’s plan after overhearing conspirators Borachio (Jakob Ehman) and Conrade (Cyrus Lane) drunkenly discussing the payment for their participation in skullduggery.

Meanwhile, Eckert, Edwards-Crewe, Patrick McManus as Leonato and André Sills as Don Pedro provide stark counterpoints to the play’s comedic levity through their entirely believable portrayals of outrage, shock, sorrow, indignation and penance as Don John’s planted deception first hits its mark and then quickly unravels.

Any review of this production would be remiss without special mention of the set design, which features an impressively large and realistic tree with a canopy that dapples the overhead lighting in such a way that closely mimics any time of day, be it late afternoon or the middle of the night, at Leonato’s lush Italian villa.

The addition in this production of three onstage musicians – George Meanwell, Jonathan Roswell and Stephan Szczesniak – also serves to enhance the needed sense of luxury, regality and revelry that Shakespeare’s tale of love and deception needs to truly come alive.

When all is said and done, the Stratford Festival’s 2023 production of Much Ado About Nothing gives its audiences the chance to experience the play in a way that puts Shakespeare’s considerable humour and the actors’ world-class talents on full display.

Much Ado About Nothing runs in repertory at the Festival Theatre until Oct. 27.