Much Ado About Nothing  WS 22,461     SOL  12,320           54%              62 pages  
Download and try these excerpts with your students.

This is the most heavily abridged play in the SOL series, and runs about 80 minutes. I have directed it twice and it works beautifully. There is also a character wholly cut from the play -  Antonio. His first scene provides a useless red herring, while his later attempts to calm the furious Leonato add nothing of substance to the characters or the action. Having Leonato as the sole male in charge of 4 young women also intensifies his responsibilities and dilemmas. Benedick's beard scene is gone because it doesn’t make sense that he should be teased so soon after being tricked. Beatrice's sneezing scene is gone because it is excruciating to decipher. Beatrice and Benedick remain Shakespeare’s wittiest lovers and Dogberry his third best comic character. Purchase

I love how Brannagh uses the high notes in his voice to such great effect as Benedick; and who doesn't love this opening scene?