Much Ado About Nothing

Written by William Shakespeare

Presented by Norah Truong, Ben O’Connor, Immanual Peterson, and

Mark Nguyen

“Much Ado About Nothing” is a comedic play written by William Shakespeare during the late 16th century. The play showcases a tale of love and constant deception that cause many problems for the characters in this work. The play takes place in the late 16th century and the story is told with help of different aspects of theater.There are many aspects of this play such as set design, lighting, and costume design. Each of these factors play an extremely large role in conveying the overall message and themes of the play.

Set Design

• The layout and design of the set acts somewhat as a portal into a different time or place.

• A good set design has the ability to allow audience members to truly see a setting that is different from their own.

• Through set design, the story has an appropriate place to be told.

Environment for the Performance

• The geographical location of this play is Messina, a port on the island of Sicily, Italy.

• Most of the action that happens throughout this work occurs on the grounds and at the home of the governor of Messina, Leonato.

• Mood and Style• Motifs: Noting,

Entertainment, Counterfitting

• Symbols: The taming of wild animals, war, a Hero’s death

• Foreshadowing: Don John’s plan to cross Claudio out of jealousy in Act I, Benedick and Beatrice’s witty insults foreshadow their falling in love.

• Major conflict: The real conflict that underlies all of this performance is somehow that Claudio, Don Pedro, and Benedick share a suspicion of marriage as a trap.

• Distinguishing Realistic from Non-Realistic Theater• Real characters grappling

with real amorous problems in the fictional context.

Central Image and Visual Metaphor

• The play’s language is heavily laden with metaphor and ornamented by rhetoric.

• For more details, the characters Beatrice and Benedick had been using the most extreme metaphors to demonstrate their scorn of each other and of marriage, and Claudio had been doing the same to demonstrate his love of Hero

Lighting

• The lighting of a play can add many different aspects to the overall work.

• Proper lighting can create different moods, showcase certain actors, and allow the audience to obtain a better understanding of the scenes that are occurring on stage.

Visibility

• By sticking to tradition and not using dramatic lighting, I will rely mostly on the actors dialogue and movements to create the mood or style of the time of day or convey the weather conditions. In Shakespearian theatre we use natural light provided by the sun to light the stage.

Visual Compositions

• The stage will be completely illuminated during the scenes to ensure that the actors are fully visible. The stage will only be dimmed during transitions between scenes to allow for continuity for the audience to not be disrupted.

• Spotlights will be used to emphasize the actors movements.

Shapes and Forms

• Floodlights on the floors will be used for all indoor scenes.

• Illumination will be provided with frontal flood lights.

• Dimension will be created by using soft edged flood lights placed on the asides.

Mood & Style• Because Much Ado About Nothing is a Shakespearian comedy with

dramatic elements the lighting will essentially remain neutral with the actors being the driving force behind the mood of the play.

• The play is witty, snarky and dismissive which I will encompass by using the soft natural light provided to center stage. On the other side the play has many serious, dark and fairly tragic moments that will be portrayed by darker blue and soft black lighting.

Time and Place

• The play is set in the sixteenth century in Messina, Sicily on and around Governor Leonato’s Estate. Provided this, the lighting will be light blends of yellows and oranges to establish a vintage look to the stage.

• For more intense and dramatic scenes such as during the climax of the play when Claudio rejects Hero at the altar, the lighting will be very minimal and kept quite dark to enhance the mood.

Rhythm of Visual Movement

• All set changes will require a blackout to allow for crew members to successfully change scene without being seen by the audience. The lighting will always mirror the score set to the play by enhancing during musical crescendos and dimming during musical decrescendos.

Central Visual Image

• The home and grounds of Leonato’s Estate are the single most central visual image of this particular play. The central visual image would be any scene that takes place on Leonato’s Estate.

Costume Design

• The design and look of the outfits the actors wear are an important part of making the whole work become believable in the eyes of the Audience.

• Proper costume design can allow audience members to truly understand the time and culture the play is set in.

• A costume should reflect on who the character is, the time frame, and still pertain to Shakespeare’s original visuals.

The Effect of Location/Time on Costumes

This play takes place in the late 16th century in Messina, Italy; the costumes would display the warm environment. Also costumes should in a way be more fashionable on the Spanish class, rather than 17th century European apparel.

The costumes depict the late 16th century fashion, where ones social class could be easily known through your wardrobe.

Costume Status

• With varying roles, the costumes varied just as equally.

• The visiting Prince and Soldiers would be in a more distinct uniform, with swords to show military status.

• The aristocracy would be dressed a little more unique, with more luxurious accessories to show prestige or wealth.

• The women were meant to have costume designs that were simple, yet elegant.

Directing

• The director is the keystone to an entire production

• The director overlooks the play as a whole and is involved in many aspects of the play.

The Script

• The director is in charge of choosing a script for a play

• William’s Shakespeare’s script for Much Ado About Nothing is full of is one of the few Shakespeare plays where the text is mainly in prose.

• The sections of verses are used to achieve invigorating energy and melancholy moods

Casting

• The Cast members acting out the characters are important pieces that allow a play to be performed

• Our cast would include:• Benedick- Robert Downey Jr.

• Beatrice- Scarlett Johansson

• Don Pedro- Chris Hemsworth

• Don John- Tom Hiddleston

• Claudio- Chris Evans

• Leonato- Samuel L. Jackson

• Hero- Gwyneth Paltrow

The Spine

• The Spine of each character is different but can all be summed up into the quest for love and happiness for their friends and loved ones. This can apply for most characters besides Don John and his Lackies.

The Theme

• The overall theme that is portrayed in this play could be love, Marriage, and jealousy.

• There are alternate themes that could be used such as one should think about his or her situations carefully before rashly springing into action.

• The theme of the play can be different for many people.

The Directorial Concept

• The director of this play would want the audience to be encompassed by the love aspect of the play yet also amused by the witty banter of Benedick and Beatrice.

• The play, being set in an older era, would have language, set design, and costumes that depict the time that the play is written in which allows the audience to be encompassed in the time period.

The End