Welcome to 1970s Brazil! Heat! Batucada! Love, rejection and redemption!  For those who could join us for our production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, it was a brilliant performance with some superlative acting from our young cast, washed down with a good slosh of comedy. Read below for our cast member and audience reviews. 

Cast member review, Sara-Maya (Year 9): 

On November 14, a cast of 20 Year 8 and 9 students performed Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' codirected by Ms Day and Ms Chandler. I was delighted, to be part of the cast, playing the witty bachelor, Benedick. 

Ms Day's concept for the play was to set it in 1970s Brazil, contrary to the original setting of 16th century Messina. This interesting approach was definitely a success and made the play lively and accessible to a larger audience. This concept was achieved by several different factors: firstly, our costumes were colourful, and included aviator shades and bright bell bottoms to really get a feel for the setting. Another aspect was the music embodying Brazilian rhythms alongside live performances by the cast through singing, shaking maracas and drumming (many thanks to Ms Bond for teaching us the energetic Batucada rhythms). 

Initially, we found some of Shakespeare's lines challenging to understand and perform, but after a few rehearsals we were confident on meanings and did our best to convey the play's comic highlights and poignant moments of tragedy. After six weeks of rehearsal, we were ready for the final show. Performing in front of a live audience in the round was an exhilarating experience. It was a great to be part of a tight ensemble - and everyone delivered their part brilliantly. Overall, we really enjoyed the process of making and performing the play. We hope the audience did too! 

Audience member review, Xanthe (Year 7): 

I really enjoyed this hilarious production. The Brazilian carnival theme was both a fun and interesting take on the Shakespearean play -  it was a hugely enjoyable experience. Well done to the cast!