In Partnership with The Coolidge Corner Theatre

We are thrilled to welcome audiences to our summer 2022 Free Shakespeare on the Common production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian! Our production brings Shakespeare’s quintessential battle of wits to the colorful and vibrant time of the 1990’s and reimagines Benedick and Beatrice as two women.

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s most popular and frequently performed plays. The plot revolves around two couples — witty Beatrice and Benedick, who publicly proclaim their disdain for each other but fall madly in love; and naïve Hero and Claudio, who fall quickly in love only to be thwarted and then reunited (in both cases, with a bit of help from their friends). But it’s more than just a comedic romp. The play tackles serious themes too: trust and betrayal, power and privilege, gendered expectations around chastity and violence. This is a comedy entangled with a tragedy, where love and justice nevertheless manage to prevail with vigorous joy — a perfect play for our uncertain times.