Connecticut Repertory Theatre's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Begins This Month

Connecticut Repertory Theatre rounds out its 2024-2025 season with William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The play previews April 24 and runs April 25 – May 4 in the Nafe Katter Theatre on the UConn Storrs campus. 

Shakespeare returns to the CRT stage with the sassy rom-com Much Ado About Nothing.  When Don Pedro and his soldiers arrive in Messina after a decisive victory for some well-earned R&R, young Claudio falls for their host's daughter, Hero — and Benedict tumbles headfirst into a battle of wits with Hero's sharp-tongued cousin, Beatrice. Replete with hijinks, romance, intrigue, and a conniving ne'er-do-well, this delightful comedy marries the best of Shakespearian theatrical flair into one sweet, satisfying story. 

Directed by Vince Tycer, Much Ado About Nothing features Equity guest Noah Ilya Alexis Tuleja, scenic design by Christina Garner, lighting design by Cody Tellis Rutledge, costume design by Frederick Windross, and sound design by Jake Neighbors.

Artistic Director Megan Monaghan Rivas notes, “Everybody loves the wit and wordplay of Much Ado, but I also love the fact that the jokes characters play on each other are played out of love, not meanness. This play contains a living example of those who do wrong being held accountable by their community and permitted to make amends.” 

Guest artist Noah Ilya Alexis Tuleja is a professional actor, director, and fight choreographer who has worked with the Bread and Puppet Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, CBS Television, Long Wharf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Actor's Shakespeare Project, and the Montana Repertory Theatre. Selected Regional Credits: Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Saratoga Shakespeare Company); Gray in The Broken Machine and Nicodemus/Lady Enid in The Mystery of Irma Vep (Silverthorne Theater); Claudius in Hamlet (ArtFarm); Clown #1 in The 39 Steps (New Century Theatre); Hamel in Out of Sterno (Gloucester Stage Company); Sicinius in Coriolanus (Actors Shakespeare Project); He is Chair of the Department of Film Media Theater at Mount Holyoke College and the Founding Director of The Players Project in residence at the UMass Amherst, Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies.