I came here for the undeniable chemistry between David Tennant and Catherine Tate, but I left delighted by probably the best Much Ado I've seen yet. Beatrice and Benedick here are losers so throughly they've made being a loser part of their personalities, and the leads pull that off with precisely delightful garishness. The rest of the cast pulls their weight, too: Don John's few lines are reinforced by great stage business and a perfectly baleful stare, Borachio is always a little drunk and can't bear to have his chest covered, and Dogberry is an ex-army nutcase who draws doodles to instruct the watch.
But probably my favorite scene was Don Pedro's proposal. I adore the tragic moments that appear like a kick to the face in Shakespeare's comedies and vanish just as fast, and I wasn't disappointed. Beatrice's crushing rejection was brutal enough, but her stammering and trying to reestablish normality afterwards was the cherry on top.
The one major misstep was making Claudio suicidal after the funeral. Even in a somber moment in the play, this is terribly dissonant with the tone of the play. It's only fifteen seconds or so, but it feels both out of character and uselessly upsetting. A baffling choice in an otherwise brilliant staging.