Lord Denney's Players' sixth production, William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, will premiere Friday, April 17 at 8 p.m. on the Department of English's YouTube channel. This is the first LDP production to be directed by an English major as a senior thesis and the first virtual premiere. After the show, viewers are invited to a Zoom talkback with the cast and crew of Much Ado following the show at 10 p.m.
One of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing is a play about love, wit, and trickery; however, most of all, it is a play about observation and gossip. Lord Denney's Players' sixth production uses surveillance to demonstrate how the people of Messina both eavesdrop upon and wittily perform for one another. Yet despite the constant observation of their surveillance state, Much Ado's characters regularly search for tenderness, finding human connection amidst a society that values voyeurism over intimacy.
LDP's production of Much Ado About Nothing was originally scheduled to run March 26-29, 2020 in the Ohio Union, but the state's "stay-at-home" order prevented the live show from occurring. Fortunately, ASCTech and LDP's signature innovation saved the day: Much Ado's surveillance culture readily translated to a film built using the same social meeting software that has enabled OSU to move its educational mission entirely online.
To view the production, please visit the Ohio State Department of English’s YouTube channel. To attend the Zoom talkback on April 17 following the show at 10 p.m., please email Manuel Jacquez (jacquez.4@osu.edu) to receive a link to the talkback’s Zoom meeting as well as a notification once the production is available to view on YouTube.
For more information about this event, contact Sarah Neville (.67).