Public domain (source).

This weekend, I went to go see the Joss Whedon Much Ado About Nothing (my favorite Shakespeare play plus my favorite director: I was obligated), and it got me thinking: Much Ado About Nothing is basically impossible to do modern adaptations of. At the same time, it begs for modern adaptations.

First, a breakdown for those of you who haven’t spent your summer rewatching this production of the play: the play has two interlocking plots. One, the more engaging plot, follows two people who hate each other (Beatrice and Benedick) who are convinced by their friends and family that each loves the other. After much sexually tense banter, the pair swallow their pride, decide they do love each other, and–by the end of the play–marry. This is the part of the play that is totally calling out for a modern adaptation, because it is essentially the plot of every romantic comedy and/or endlessly readapted Austen novel. Beatrice and Benedick are by turns the origin of great banter (à la His Girl Friday) and some wonderful slapstick as they eavesdrop on friends who know they’re there.

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