Category: Much Ado About Nothing

Thank you to Elizabeth E. Tavares for introducing Much Ado About Nothing.

Elizabeth E. Tavares is Assistant Professor of English with the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the University of Alabama. Specializing in early English drama and Shakespeare, her scholarship and reviews have appeared in or are forthcoming from Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, and Early Theatre, among others. Her current book project traces the formation of the repertory system in the 1580s English theatre industry. Find her online (elizabethetavares.com) and on Twitter (@ElizETavares).

Many thanks to my friend Joey Bianco of Whim Wham for the animated video elements.

Here are some resources to help guide your way into Much Ado About Nothing:

• Resources, character map, and infographic from Course Hero.
• See a synopsis of the play from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust or Overly Sarcastic Productions.
• In many areas, the recent Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing, starring Danielle Brooks, is available on PBS.
• A full production, from the Texas Shakespeare Festival, is on YouTube.
• A modern BBC re-imagining of Much Ado, from 2005, is available on YouTube. (Note: it’s based on Shakespeare’s story, but does not feature his words.)
• The Show Must Go Online performed the play just last week.
• Too odd not to include: a 1940 Dinky Duck cartoon entitled “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Thanks for Dan Hainsworth for letting us use his Shakespeare icons, as shown above right.

Enjoy these images of Much Ado About Nothing from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Find more here.