The play is the first production in the 2017-18 Mainstage Theatre season.
The Texas Tech University School of Theatre & Dance presents William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" Oct. 19-22 in the Charles E. Maedgen Jr. Mainstage Theatre.
The play begins as soldiers return to Messina to take up their civilian lives after a time of civil unrest. During this time, the aftershocks of the Civil War affect them and the people they care about. Benedick and Beatrice, former lovers, swear they will never reconcile, while their friends make other plans for them. Claudio, battle weary, wonders if Hero will have him for a husband. Don John bitterly plots trouble for them all, while the bumbling town guards may or may not foil his evil scheme.
"The Bard's "battles' are imagined in our production as the American Civil War, perhaps the bloodiest conflict in our country's history, with the events of the play taking place just after the final defeat of the Confederate Army," said Bill Gelber, associate professor of acting and directing in the School of Theatre & Dance and director of the production. "How can comedy come from such an environment? First, through bitterness, suspicion and doubt and then through forgiveness, marriage and most of all, love. I hope audiences see that, in 400 years, people haven't changed. We still have the same fears, desires and joys as they did then."
Curtain times for the 2017-18 Mainstage Theatre season are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets for the show are $18 for individuals and $5 for students with a valid student ID. A limited number of free student rush tickets are available for Texas Tech students.
To purchase tickets and for more information, call (806) 742-3603 or visit the School of Theatre & Dance website.
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CONTACT: Chris Cook, managing director, Office of Communications and Marketing, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2136 or chris.cook@ttu.edu