Belmont High School is taking a trip to the beach this weekend with its fall production of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The show opens at 7:00 this evening, with shows on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the high school black box theater.
Belmont’s rendition of the romantic comedy takes inspiration from popular media, such as “Baywatch,” “The White Lotus,” the “Barbie” movie, and MTV Spring Break. With colorful costumes and hits from Nirvana’s “Teenage Dirtbag” to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” the show is a youthful twist on a classic tale.
“Hopefully this means that even if following all of the language or complicated plot twists is a challenge, there’s plenty to enjoy and follow in the production,” director Ezra Flam wrote in his director’s note.
Set in Messina, Italy — in this case, on Messina Beach — “Much Ado About Nothing” follows the love stories of Claudio and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice. The title of the show itself is a play on words that gives insight into the story.
In Elizabethan England, the words “nothing” and “noting” were often pronounced similarly. Given that most of the plot is centered around gossip and the observations of various characters, the pun is an apt title for one of Shakespeare’s most well-known comedies.
With the backdrop of a beach, wedding veils become floppy hats and swords become oars. The show’s cast said the variety of scenes, and the comedy within each, offered unique chances for them to explore their own characters and use both the language and their own physicality to their full potential.
For Malachi Smith (Claudio), the wedding scene, a pivotal moment in the show, stood out.
“I think it’s very different for Claudio than the rest of the show. It’s this big turning point for him, and I think it’s also the same for a lot of the other characters as well,” Smith said. “We’re seeing a lot of these characters in a new light, in a way that we haven’t seen them throughout the entirety of Act One. So I think that’s super fun.”
The show’s small cast said learning how to understand and deliver Shakespeare’s lines was a labor of love.
“At the beginning, we dedicated a lot of rehearsal time to just reading our lines, talking about what they mean, watching other productions, how they might interpret [the lines], and then how that shapes our interpretations and what words to stress and syllables and how that can help an audience understand it,” said Rayna Thomas, who plays Beatrice. “I think those early rehearsals really helped me.”
Many members of the cast have previously performed Shakespeare — the high school put on “Romeo and Juliet” in 2024. However, this is some of their first times stepping into a leading role.
“It was definitely a bit daunting,” Thomas said.
It also isn’t Sahana Sokka’s (Hero) first time stepping into a Shakespearean role.
“My favorite part of the show has honestly been just watching everything come together from the first rehearsal to like right now and seeing the change,” Sokka said.
“Much Ado About Nothing” is Bennett Sprague’s (Benedick) first role in a Shakespearean production. Like many of his castmates, he worked diligently to “translate” his lines to understand the meaning. He credited Flam for working with the students to learn the various pronunciations and timing to create a seamless experience for both the actors and the audience.
“It’s been a lot of fun learning all the different phrases and what they mean and the best ways to convey them,” Sprague said. “The role of Benedick is a blast. I get to be on stage with all my friends and we interact so much and it’s just so much fun.”
“Much Ado About Nothing” runs Nov.12-14 at Belmont High School. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.bhs-pac.org/muchado.html