Ben Greet and the Ben Greet Players: present "Much Ado About Nothing"

              Columbia University in the City of New York

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION
THE INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES


BEN GREET
And The
BEN GREET PLAYERS
Present
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
A COMEDY BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Written and Acted before 1600 (Printed in Quarto 1600)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1929, at 2:30 P.M.

MCMILLIN ACADEMIC THEATER


CHARACTERS
(In Order of Their Appearance)



Leonato (Governor of Messina)
KYNASTON REEVES


Antonio (His Brother)
ARTHUR SIRCOM


Balthasar (Attendant on Don Pedro)
CECIL MUSK


Beatrice (Niece to Leonato)
THEA HOLME


Hero (Daughter of Leonato)
ALISON PICKARD


Margaret
EDITH MAYOR


Ursula
RUTH VIVIAN


Don Pedro (Prince of Aragon)
BRUNO BARNABE


Don John (His Half-Brother)
STANFORD HOLME


Claudio (His Kinsman)
ARNOLD WALSH


Benedick (Of Padua)
RUSSELL THORNDIKE


Conrade
PETER DEARING


Borachio
WALTER GEER


Dogberry (A Constable)
BEN GREET


Verges (His Man)
GEORGE HARE


Watch
{HENRY WILLIS, LAWRENCE JOHNS


Priest
CECIL MUSK



The Scene is Laid in Messina

The Music is of the period The Pavan is arranged by LESLIE R. FRENCH



ARRANGEMENT OF EPISODES

1.
The young Lords arrive on a visit to Leonato at Messina.  Claudio is a suitor for Nero, his daughter.
2.
Don John (a bastard), is designing to overthrow his brother and his brother's friends, and through a masquerade discovers an excuse for his plotting.
3.
Don Pedro and Leonato plan to get Benedick and Beatrice into a marriage knot—in which Hero joins.
4.
The play is founded on plots, serious and humorous, and the Constable and his watch arrest the chief conspirators and report their discovery.
5.
The intended marriage of Claudio and Hero is interrupted by the fake accusations against Hero, through which Benedick and Beatrice become lovers.
6.
The play ends with the trial of the slanderers and the confession that leads to the eventual righting of the lovers.



The Stage is set as far as practicable to indicate the simplicity of the Theatre of Shakespeare's life time.  The plays are acted in a manner approximating that of the Elizabethan period, with such modern modifications as may be necessary.  However, the purpose of Ben Greet is not merely to reproduce dramatic conditions under which Shakespeare worked, but to present plays as they were written.

The Play is Produced by Ben Greet, Assisted by Peter Dearing.

Costumes are designed and executed by Doreen Errol, London.
Wigs by Clarkson, London.

The Steinway is the official piano of the Institute

Under the Management of the REDPATH BUREAU
Crawford A. Peffer, General Manager
1400 Broadway, New York City.