Much Ado About Nothing - Mariachi Style!
Appropriate for all ages, the play is set in California in 1862 just after the great Battle of Puebla, the Mexican victory over the French now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo. Cladio and Benedick, two Mexican soldiers, return from battle and find themselves in love with beautiful Hero, the Mayor’s daughter, and Beatrice, her headstrong cousin.
From the plots which twist and tangle, to its exciting swordplay and Mariachi music, this insightful interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies becomes an exploration into California’s cultural history, while dramatizing the destructive results of gossip and racism, redeemed through the merits of honesty.
This musical adaptation was created, in part, to assist schools to meet the California State Board of Education’s history and social science curriculum mandate requiring 4th grade students to study “…the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.”
Written by William Shakespeare
Adapted by Bert Rosario in collaboration with Jose Hernandez of Mariachi Sol
de México®
Directed by Tony Plana
