A new school year is underway, and so are Corona del Mar High School Theater productions. To kick off the year, CdMHS Theater is working on its rendition of Much Ado About Nothing, an original romantic-comedy Shakespearean play about two main couples. The play is scheduled to be performed from November 6th to 8th at 7:00 p.m., so don’t miss it!

For those unfamiliar with Much Ado About Nothing, it revolves around two couples: the governor’s daughter Hero with her suitor, Claudio, and the governor’s niece Beatrice with a veteran bachelor, Benedick. Hero and Claudio are planning to get married with the assistance of Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon. Because Claudio is of a lower status than Hero, he relies on Don Pedro’s help to arrange the engagement. To pass the time until the wedding, Hero and Claudio’s friends conspire to trick Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love with each other. Their relationship is more light-hearted compared to Claudio and Hero’s. Don Pedro and his illegitimate brother, Don John, have an estranged relationship, so Don John wishes to ruin Hero and Claudio’s wedding. “He has a bad relationship with his brother…and tries to ruin this marriage between these lovebirds because he feels like it,” Junior Tomas Villaveces, the actor of Don John, explains. Don John attempts to frame Hero as a cheater and convince Claudio to call off the wedding.

The entire production cast of Much Ado About Nothing is delighted to share their hard work with the CdM community. Junior Skylar Foster plays Watchman 1 and is “really excited to scooby-doo around the stage because my character is super funny and to be on the stage with [her] peers.” And although Shakespeare isn’t Villaveces’s favorite, he “[loves] being a part of the project, and it’s going pretty well.”