Much (detailed) Geeking out about "Much Ado"

[Edited: I'm awake, now, and the thoughts I had about Benedick are still going around in my head, so I'm going to pick up from where I was dropping off [srsly, folks, my eyes were closing of their own accord], and finally get this out of my head.)

I posted about this a couple of days ago, right after I watched it... But it's taken a couple of days for all my thoughts to percolate -- so this is the full-on geek version.

So, this weekend, I found the full, 1984, BBC production of Much Ado About Nothing online, and watched all two and a half hours. It was nowhere as slick or polished as a commercially produced, theatrically released, movie. And if you complained to me that the acting was as stiff and measured as an over-starched dress shirt, I would not argue...

However... I've read the full text several times, and I've seen several versions acted out: a few different versions in live theater, and Kenneth Branagh's film version. But reading words on a page never quite conveys the subtleties of tensions between characters. And in most acted productions, there's always (it seems) going to be something cut out by the modern director. And so this is the first time I'd watched the full text fully acted, and I came away with insights and feels (All the feels!) that I haven't had before.

[ETA: In writing this post, I've gone back and reread the text, and realize a few lines have been cut... but far fewer lines than is usual).

( Where I go into detail, Part one: the tense, dramatic parts )

( Detail, part two-a: The Rom-Com bits: Beatrice's side )

( Detail, part two-b: The Rom-Com bits: Benedick's side )

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( Conclusions )