William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
The Shakespeare Company at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz has chosen one of Shakespeare's most popular plays for the school year 2006/07 production: "Much Ado about Nothing" (German title: "Viel Lärm um Nichts"). The comedy requires wit, humour, irony, and, at times, a certain satirical bite. This is anything but a simple matter as staging comedy successfully is one of the toughest challenges in theatre.
Shakespeare’s "Much Ado about Nothing" was written sometime during 1598 and 1599, that is, between "The Merchant of Venice" and "As You Like It". In this period Shakespeare developed a mature comic style displaying increasing profundity which culminated in "Twelfth Night".
At the centre of the play are two pairs of lovers, whose relationships are the mirror image of each other. Hero and Claudio, "a young lord of Florence", are the classic romantic couple. Their love for each other is tested by the intrigues of Don John, brother of the Prince of Arragon. Beatrice and Benedick are also in love, but they are incapable of admitting it and it is only through the (well-meaning) intrigues of the Prince and his conspirators that they finally confess their love for each other. The never-ending rows between Benedick and Beatrice are among the finest dialogues Shakespeare ever wrote.
In "Much Ado about Nothing" Shakespeare works with figures from different social classes. The ludicrous self-overestimation of Dogberry and Verges, two servants of the judiciary, serves to remind the audience that it is watching a comedy even in the play’s most threatening moments.
Ultimately, "Much Ado about Nothing" is a play about the power of appearance, of the unreal, the imaginary and that people need time until they wake up to the true nature of one another and themselves.
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