Much Ado About Not(h)ing

Shakespearean romantic comedy meets Facebook.
Produced and presented by Adaptivity Theatre Company, in collaboration with N2P
90 minutes - no interval
Audience members with Smart phones and Facebook accounts can access additional layers of the performance, if desired. Poster image inspired by Banksy's Mobile Lovers.

Doors will open 30 minutes before the start time of 8pm. Latecomers may not be admitted.

Joan Don and her half-brother, Pedro Don, have just returned from a six month deployment in Afghanistan. Ancient grudge has broken to new mutiny upon the recent death of their father, from whom Joan has been estranged since childhood. In response to his guilt-ridden father’s last request, Pedro is attempting to build a relationship with his half-sister Joan. Meanwhile, Pedro’s godfather, Mayor of London Leonato Elliott, tries to support his godson through this time of grief and reconciliation by inviting him and Joan, along with Pedro’s band of brothers from his platoon, Claudio and Benedick, to a welcome home celebration with his daughter Hero, niece Beatrice and sister Ursula, who is waiting to hear from her husband, Sean, who has been injured in Afghanistan.

An intriguing exploration of the connections between the turmoil caused by the events of this romantic tragicomedy and the evolution of social media. Frequent ‘noting’ of social media and technology is the root of some troubles that people experience in their relationships today, and is reflected in the obstacles between the characters in this play. During the English Renaissance, ‘noting’ (meaning rumour or overhearing) sounded very similar to ‘nothing’, used in the title of the play. It’s through noting that Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into professing their love for each other and by founding his belief on nothing, Claudio is tricked into refusing to marry Hero. This word play has inspired the unusual title for this production, Much Ado About Not(h)ing, the use of the parenthesis indicating that the ‘h’ in the word ‘nothing’ can be retained or deleted: noting or nothing.

Digital projection, movement and dance, as well as original music, written by Alex Loveless and Scott Howland, with lyrics sourced from Shakespeare’s text, combine to create a production that explores what 21st century society takes most note of: the people and events in the ‘mortal world’ or the ‘digital world’ that people access through their computer screens or mobile phones. Mobile devices are an integral element of the performance, inviting audience members to choose between viewing the performance presented by the actors onstage or the digital performance that they can access through Facebook on their mobile phones (or a little of both), thus actively immersing the audience in the dilemma this production endeavours to explore.