I'd have given him credit for the dark tone shift of the last 1/3 of Much Ado making more sense after seeing every character drunk out of their mind the whole time... But the Tennant/Tate stage version did that the year before. SUSPICIOUS, Joss, real sneaky.
The wedding scene really lends itself to a dark shift. The Tennant/Tate version has one of the greatest examples of using breath for a dramatic shift that I've ever seen. Tate's pivot to "kill Claudio" is a master class.
exactly this! using the “everyone’s drinking constantly” makes the Tennant/Tate one really sell the end of the play, especially Claudio during/post funeral. just a really smart framing. agree with you about the breath shift there too — it’s masterful.