Ever since Firebird got started back in 2023, Much Ado About Nothing has always been in our back pocket because it is that one universal romantic-comedy where all there was to do was find the right moment in time for us to stage and perform. Much Ado is one of those special stories that can live and thrive in any context. The "merry war" between Benedick and Beatrice has enticed and inspired the visions of theatre-makers for over four hundred years. We knew though that if we were to perform Much Ado, we wanted to do it with as big of a cast as we could, ideally without too much need for combining roles or script editing. So, after last year's production of Midsummer wrapped and we were suddenly bombarded with questions about when the auditions for next year would happen, we felt it was our sign to produce a Much Ado inspired by our particular moment in time.
When thinking about how to frame a 400-year-old story set after the resolution of a war on an estate on the island of Sicily involving messy romantic subterfuge and family drama in our present moment, we thought about recent media influences such as The Social Network, Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game, and HBO's Succession. Like those influences, the characters of Much Ado are witty, uncomfortably vindictive, and relatably awkward. To achieve this modern twist, our biggest technical considerations came in the form of swapping the Italian setting for a lake house in the Hamptons and the soldiers for Silicon Valley start-up "tech bros" returning from the "battles" of the white-collar corporate world. We hope that these influences are noticeable and shine throughout the production.
We would like to thank the cast, crew, and the wider Firebird community for their support throughout these last four years in helping to bring the dreams of a handful of theatre nerds to life, and we are ecstatic for you all to see what we have coming next! Enjoy the show, and may the Bard be with you!
-Tristan & Jimmy
