A little bit longer with Irving’s edition of Shakespeare’s plays. The performance history for ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ lays great stress on the play’s long-standing popularity and how much of the play’s importance lies in the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. Benedick was an especial favourite role of the great eighteenth century actor David Garrick, playing it, the Irving edition tells us, over seventy times.
The Jubilee referred to here was Garrick’s celebration held in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769, an event of mixed success not least because of appallingly wet weather but one which was to be of decisive importance in establishing Shakespeare as a national figure and Stratford-upon-Avon as a tourist hotspot for Shakespeare’s admirers.
It was as Benedick that Garrick chose to appear at his Jubilee and another fascinating insight offered us here is that he was the first Benedick to perform in front of footlights.
Wonderful stuff.
The Solitary Reader 