Overview

Much Ado About Nothing appears to have been written around 1599, shortly before As You Like It and Twelfth Night. The action combines two narrative threads: the spirited comedy of the courtship of Benedick and Beatrice, and the sombre tale of confused love between Hero and Claudio. The first is a creation by Shakespeare and the second appears to have been drawn from an Italian source, either by Bandello or Ariosto. The action takes place in Messina. Eponymous lovers Hero and Claudio seem to be ideally matched and nearly everyone is looking forward to their impending marriage. The odd man out is the sinister Don John, brother and former enemy of Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, but recently restored to the Prince's favour. Being of a morose and jealous temperament, Don John plots to disrupt the wedding and cause division between the lovers, with the aid of his fellow conspirators, Borachio and Conrade. However, this evil plan is thwarted by an unexpected incursion by the bumbling constables Dogberry and Verges. The young couple are finally reunited, but only after Claudio has first been led to believe that his rejected spouse, Hero, has died of shame and grief. The matching of Beatrice and Benedick, encouraged by some artful chicanery by Hero and Claudio, and marked by many witty and sardonic exchanges of repartee, serves to lighten the texture of the darker elements of the action. Featuring Emma Faye as Hero, Kendra Murray as Beatrice, Dara Brown as Claudio, Lillian Rachel as Benedick, Cate Barratt as Dogberry, and Gary Macfadden as Don John. Also featuring the voices of Catherine Bilson, Ron Altman, Alan Weyman, P J Morgan, Claudio Anglade, John Burlinson and Linda Barrans. Songs arranged by Alan Weyman Audio edited by Denis Daly Text kindly provided by playshakespeare.com

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William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet and dramatist of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean period, is the most widely known author in all of English literature and often considered the greatest. He was an active member of a theater company for at least twenty years, during which time he wrote many great plays. Plays were not prized as literature at the time and Shakespeare was not widely read until the middle of the eighteenth century, when a great upsurge of interest in his works began that continues today. Emma Faye, a.k.a. ""The Clean Reads Queen,"" is an audiobook narrator and actor with a passion for bringing stories to life. She specializes in YA, sweet romance, fantasy, inspiring nonfiction, and anything clean. She has twenty-plus years of acting experience and has voiced over thirty audiobooks. Recording in her professional home studio, Emma dives deep into the characters and stories to bring them to life in a fresh and captivating way. She puts her heart into every project and it comes across when you are listening to her audiobooks. Emma also runs a local community theater, moderates a support group for women going through betrayal trauma, and is a proud cat mom of four kitties. After a career in communications and a life dabbling in theatre, Cate Barratt now spends her time narrating audiobooks--from mysteries to dramatic readings, from comedies to history books. These can be found on Audible, iTunes, Amazon, and more. Linda Barrans is a British narrator with a fondness for Jane Austen and Shakespeare. Gary MacFadden is a voice talent based in western Montana, USA. He works in commercial, e-learning, explainer videos, and audiobooks. Gary has narrated and produced over forty audiobooks, and has produced another dozen books for other narrators. Kendra Murray is an in-demand narrator with a background in film and stage acting. John Burlinson is an American audiobook narrator. Lillian Rachel is a talented British voiceover artist who utilizes multiple accents in her work. She currently resides in Washington, D.C.

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