Much Ado About Nothing

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death, Wolf-Sister Productions brings to The Rose Playhouse one of Shakespeare's best loved comedies, 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

June 1945. The war in Europe is over. Benedick and his younger friend Claudio have returned, eager to lose themselves in partying the summer away. But a very different kind of battle is brewing, and this time their foes are Beatrice and Hero. Our two soldiers are clueless when it comes to affairs of the heart, and victory is no longer assured.

The production examines the fragility of love: whether it is young love or an old flame. Can Claudio find happiness after war has ripped his world apart? Will Benedick and Beatrice ever stop fighting? What happens when there is a choice between love and friendship?

The battle of the sexes is fought with words, not bullets, but can be just as brutal.

'Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably'

The Rose Playhouse is the first Elizabethan theatre on Bankside and was the original home of many Shakespeare plays. There will be a special midnight matinee on 23 April, to mark exactly 400 years since Shakespeare took his last breath.

This will therefore be the first production on Bankside to take place on the date of his death.