MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Broadcast from National Theatre Live in London

Peterborough, NH – The National Theatre Live’s award-winning series of broadcasts begins at the Players on November 19th at 1:00pm, with a screening of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

The play is probably Shakespeare’s most iconic comedy exploring themes of love, marriage, deception, and revenge. It follows the antics of two couples, one of whom is happily in love, the other is adamantly single and at odds with romance. The legendary family-run Hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera has been visited by artists, celebrities, and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surrounds not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick.

The play sits in the early middle portion of Shakespeare’s career, building on the structure of early comedies, developing the style and language into plots with more sophistication, and a nod towards the subversion encountered in later comedies like Measure for Measure and Cymbeline. Much Ado About Nothing is, broadly speaking, about worlds colliding: across the social hierarchy, the sexes, generations and even cultures. It’s also about direction and misdirection, hearing and mishearing, romance and resentment, the difference between literary wooing and real-life relationships, and there’s some comedy in it too for good measure.

Following his award-winning productions of Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Antony and Cleopatra, director Simon Godwin returns with this irresistible comedy, broadcast from the National Theatre stage. The cast includes comedy legend Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and acclaimed stage actor John Heffernan. Godwin is joined by set designer Anna Fleischle (award-winner for Hanged Man), and costume designer Evie Gurney (Antony and Cleopatra, The Hunt). The lighting is designed by award- winner Lucy Carter (Lohengrin and Woolf Works) and music composed by Michael Bruce (Romeo & Juliet, Ed: The Musical).

Curtain time for Much Ado About Nothing on November 19th is 1:00 pm. All National Theatre Live tickets are $20 and are available on the Players’ website, www.peterboroughplayers.org, or by calling the box office at (603) 924-7585. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am-4pm.