Much ado about Catherine Tate - but is she bovvered?

London theatre-goers are faced with two wildly different versions of Shakespeare's much loved comedy Much Ado About Nothing opening on opposite sides of the Thames. With the help of David Tennant and Catherine Tate, however, the Wyndham Theatre's production looks set to steal the spotlight.
 
Set in 1980s Gibraltar amid a triumphant post-Falkland War atmosphere, this production reunites Tennant and Tate for the first time since they appeared together in Doctor Who several years ago, and they are quite a duo.
 
This is a combination, writes Michael Billington in the Guardian, which is cemented by their television history and "pays off superbly".
 
Praising Josie Rourke's production as "20 minutes shorter, more socially specific and much sexier" than its Globe theatre rival, Billington concludes that such an excellent play suggests that "the Tate-Tennant partnership should be pursued".
 
Tennant, no stranger to theatre following a stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company, is reported to have been behind the decision to pick Tate for the role of Beatrice.
 
"For me," he said in an interview, "the thinking was, I'd like to do a play; I'd like to do Much Ado About Nothing; and it just so happens that the perfect Beatrice in my head is Catherine."
 
The former Doctor Who, whose previous stage roles include Hamlet, was overwhelmingly well reviewed by critics. Indeed, writes Paul Taylor in the Independent, it would be hard to conceive of "a more gloriously engaging portrayal" of his character Benedict, during which Tennant manages to do both "stand-up and top-flight classical actor".
 
Tate, on the other hand, does not fare so well. Her performance consists mainly of the "shrugging truculence of a rather yobby ladette", writes Taylor, adding that the production was "over-interpreted and insufficiently thought-through".
 
For a play whose name includes an illusion to female genitalia ('nothing' was Elizabethan slang for vagina), the role of Beatrice is a crucial one. Although Tate's reputation as a comedian - established in her highly praised The Catherine Tate Show - will surely be bolstered by this performance, critics remain sceptical of her ability to portray the character's more subtle aspects.
 
"She never quite captures the poignant pain of a woman who hides deep hurt behind her wit," writes Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph. "Indeed she often seems downright rude rather than amusing, and hysterical rather than funny. Calm down, dear."

It may be that her comedic past - distilled for most in her infamous sketch of a rude chav - is still dogging her. Spencer adds that she "frequently looks on the brink of delivering a sulky 'Am I bovvered?'". ·