Burnside Players Inc. Present
Much Ado About Nothing

This November Burnside Players continue to experiment and push the boundaries of theatre by performing two slightly different versions – one comic and one tragic - of Much Ado About Nothing.

Wealthy nobleman Leonato, his beautiful daughter Hero, brother Antonio and shrewish, acid-tongued niece Beatrice host a celebration for the victorious Prince Don Pedro and his entourage – including the witty, womanising bachelor Benedick; the valiant and unassuming Claudio; and the Prince's scheming and vengeful sister Dame Joan. When Claudio falls in love with Hero and the Prince sets out to trick Beatrice and Benedick into admitting their well-concealed affections for each other a series of events is set in motion. The ending – comic or tragic – alternates with each performance.

It will be Thorin's third play for Burnside having directed the wildly successful 2003 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and 2005's Oh! What a Lovely War. He most recently directed ‘As You Like It: Working Title’ for Unmasked Theatre. His on-stage roles include Godspell for the Hills Musical Society and The Taming of the Shrew for Burnside Players. He his this to say about the two-version concept: 'We're playing on the concept that the only difference between a Shakespeare comedy and a Shakespeare tragedy is whether the key characters either get married or die.'

The cast includes some faces familiar to Burnside audiences: Rhodri Henry-Edwards as Don Pedro, Locky Cupit as Benedick, Jamie Wright as Claudio, Glenn Cupit as Leonato, Bonnie-Fay Madigan as Verges and, making their first appearances at Burnside, Joanna Patrick as Beatrice, Rachael Horbelt as Hero and Nathan Troisi as Dogberry.