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Benedick: Boy![Enter Boy]
Boy: Signor?
Benedick: In my chamber window lies a book. Bring it hither to me in the orchard.
Boy: I am already here, sir.
Benedick: I know that, but I would have thee hence and here again.
[Exit Boy]
--Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Scene 3
Top Ten Performances of "the Boy" in William Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing 1. Theodore Chambers, Globe Theater, London, 1605In one of the first performances of the play, Chambers chose to play the scene for laughs instead of pathos, overriding the instructions of the director, and forever changing the role of "the Boy" in the play's subsequent incarnations. He was fired for his disobedience though and ultimately landed in debtors' prison, continuing to play "the Boy" until his death in 1618. 2. David Garrick, Covent Garden, London, 1749
According to all contemporary press accounts, the great 18th century actor turned in a dynamic and strenuous performance by choosing to play both Benedick and his Boy in a nod to the play's fluid identity politics. 3. Paul/Paula Powell, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1950
John Gielgud directed and played Benedick in this highly influential production. Powell's performance is of particular note since Paul became Paula in October 1950. Gielgud was heard to remark at the time: "The Boy shall be a Girl. It is now perfect." 4. Martin Druid, Halsey Theater, Boston, MA, 1885
Druid's performance was widely celebrated by both critics and audiences. His abrupt dismissal from the production, rumored later to be the result of a "perverse exchange" with the married actor playing Dogberry, was met with riots in Harvard Square and scathing editorials in the Boston Globe. 5. Ernest Thornberry, Halsey Theater, Boston, MA, 1885
Druid's replacement, Thornberry weathered the riots and calls for his head with a showstopping turn, that is until November 6, 1885, when he was decapitated by a rabid Druid supporter. 6. Alex Scott III, 1993 film version directed by Kenneth Branagh
This performance is as much a testament to Branagh's broadly humanistic reading of Shakespeare's poetry as it is to Scott's outstanding performance. Rent it and listen to how he articulates the comma in the line "I am already here, sir" without speaking it. 7. Charles Bowen, 1905, West End, London
Bowen's radical reinterpretation of the text is explained by critic Stanley Wells in the Oxford Shakespeare edition: "The Boy's pert answer is capped by Benedick's taking it literally. Deliberately mistaking the figurative for the literal and the other way round is a strategy of wit demanding the high cultivation that Beatrice and Benedick share. The Boy does not return. In some productions [owing to Charles Bowen's performance in a 1905 West End production] he produces the book on the spot-to great laughter." 8. Fergie Jenkins, 1972, Central Park, New York
During his much talked about and oft ridiculed hiatus from baseball in order to pursue his first love, acting, Jenkins was a warm, luminous presence as the Boy in this Shakespeare in the Park production. 9. Charles Sterne, 1990, his parents' basement, Atlanta, GA
Although I haven't reached the summit of this 1990 reading of the part since, I feel very confident that I could walk onto any production of MAAN and kick this role's ass. Anyplace, anytime.
By Charles Sterne