[Past Event] Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" | Ryan Ranch

Course Description:

Set in the sun-drenched Sicilian town of Messina, "Much Ado About Nothing" fizzes with celebratory energy. Its rollicking humor centers on the feisty Beatrice and Benedick, whose battle to out-talk each other dominates the play—at least until they are tricked into falling in tongue-tied love, raising suspicions that their verbal jousting was all along a kind of repressed flirtation. Scholars point to Shakespeare’s penchant for throwaway play titles like this one, choosing names with a kind of cheeky, take-it-or-leave-it quality, teasing audiences not to take things, or their author, too seriously. Join us for a robust celebration of Shakespeare’s masterful romantic comedy.