Much Ado about Nothing

Arkangel Shakespeare

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Saskia Reeves, Samuel West, Paul Jesson, Jason O'Mara, Abigail Docherty, Bryan Pringle

Young Claudio has fallen for the lovely heiress Hero, who also loves him. Their path to the altar looks smooth, until the evil Don John intervenes.

All ends happily, thanks to his incompetent assassins and the lucky discoveries of the bungling constable Dogberry. Central to the play, one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies, are Beatrice and Benedick, masters of wit and sworn foes to marriage - until a plot is hatched to bring them together.

Beatrice is played by Saskia Reeves, while Samuel West plays Benedick. Paul Jesson is Don Pedro, Jason O'Mara is Claudio, and Abigail Docherty is Hero. Dogberry is played by Bryan Pringle.

Public Domain (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Always love Arkangel

No one does Shakespeare justice like Arkangel performance. The actors, the supplemental music and sound effects, always brings the Globe Theatre to life. A sure fire win each and every time.

Beautiful performance!

I’m so grateful for this production of Much Ado about Nothing! The actors adeptly captured the mood of the play and were very intelligible. The lovely musical interludes helped pace the play and set the tone from act to act, scene to scene. Thank you for this fine work! And may the world be peopled!

Great actors made Shakespeare pure joy!

Excellent actors with precise diction helped me to understand and thoroughly enjoy this witty play. So happy the music doesn't play over actors lines as in other versions. I listened to this presentation while following along with the written play to help me understand this great work.

Live in thy heart, die in thy lap

A good, light Shakespeare comedy. Many of the usual Shakespeare tropes (mistaken identities, smart women, dumb men, fools, gender roles, marriage folies). It probably isn't top half of my favorites, but that is partially because I have a slight bias against Shakespeare's comedies. I prefer his tragedies and histories. But that is me. And there are plenty of ticket-buying people that disagree. 'Much Ado About Nothing' is still one of the more common plays of Shakespeare to see performing in schools, with Shakespeare companies, and in movies. It is a gambol that apparently plays.

Favorite lines:

“I can see he's not in your good books,' said the messenger.
'No, and if he were I would burn my library.” (Act 1, Scene 1)

“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.” (Act 2, Scene 1)

“Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.” (Act 3, Scene 1)

“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” (Act 4, Scene 1)

“For it falls out
That what we have we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost,
Why, then we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
While it was ours.” (Act 4, Scene 1)

Shakespeare at his comedic best!

This is one of my favourite Shakespeare comedies. Excellent preformance, very enjoyable. I highly recommend to anyone, especially if you're trying to get started with Shakespeare.