“Much Ado About Nothing” remains one of William Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, and a new version at Shakespeare Theatre sets it in a TV newsroom in the nation’s capital.
“It’s kind of ‘Broadcast News’ meets Shakespeare,” Artistic Director Simon Godwin told WTOP. “Beatrice and Benedick are warring anchors of a news show; Hero presents sports; Claudio presents the weather. We have live news broadcasts happening throughout the evening from other Shakespeare plays, so you get to see all Shakespeare plays in one.”
The exciting setting of a D.C. newsroom unlocks all sorts of thematic potential that audiences from our area will find familiar.
“We’re just really enjoying the trappings of media with social media, news broadcasts and CCTV cameras, so it’s really Shakespeare for the modern age,” said Godwin. “Everyone is very concerned about their reputation in Washington, and this is a play very much about reputation, honor and your ‘name,’ so it’ll play into anxieties and comic opportunities.”
Shakespeare purists will still get the same iconic story of parallel love stories. One involves Beatrice and Benedick, who returns after a long hiatus to engage in a warring dialogue, but gradually, they realize that they in fact still love each other.
The second love story follows Hero and Claudio, who are planning to get married until Claudio’s pal falsely claims that Hero has been unfaithful. This “pal” is no friend at all, but rather a disruptive force named Don John, who convinces Claudio to abandon his bride-to-be at the church and spends the rest of the story realizing that he was wrong to do so.
“Don John has a great lust to destroy things,” Godwin said. “In our version, he’s recently been arrested and released from prison on a drug offense, so he’s wearing an ankle bracelet, which is driving him crazy. We’ve given him feelings of his own honor being compromised, so he has a bitterness and wants to avenge himself on other people.”
The ankle bracelet is just one of many modern touches by costume designer Evie Gurney, who dresses the cast in modern blazers, while scenic designer Alexander Dodge creates a D.C.-centric newsroom that’s far more familiar than 16th-century Messina, Sicily.
“It is a TV station with a Capitol backdrop, so it’s very authentic based on existing TV news shows,” Godwin said. “There are screens; there’s a news desk that Beatrice and Benedick present behind, then we start to revolve into other locations: a big function room for a masquerade party, a hotel … so we break out, but we keep the epic Washington theme.”
All the while, the news desk sports the logo SNN, for Shakespeare News Network.
“We’re very excited to have a very famous CNN anchor making a cameo,” Godwin said. “You’ll have an absolute ball. It’s an audacious reinvention of this glorious play.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
