Much Ado About Nothing

Synopsis: Televised adaptation based on a National Theatre stage production by Franco Zeffirelli, starring real-life married couple Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens as Beatrice and Benedick.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Notes: The cast of 43 actors spent more than 3 weeks in rehearsal for the televised version, which was pre-recorded in the studio on January 11, 1967. Alan Cooke, who adapted the play for television, observes: "Paradoxically, one needed to change a great deal to make it come out the same [...]. The original was a very two-dimensional production; I tried on television to create the feeling of being among a performance going on" (qtd. in Bernard Adams, "Much Ado", Radio Times, 2 February 1967, p.11).

The Library of Congress copy is from a transmission on PBS.
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Director

Alan Cooke

Producer

Cedric Messina; Robert Stephens

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Nino Rota

Art Direction

Mel Cornish

Contributor

Franco Zeffirelli; Robert Graves

Cast