Much Ado About Nothing
Locations
9 beautiful squares
Performances
9 amazing performances
Tickets
1,600 tickets sold
Year
2016
Our 2016 production was Much Ado About Nothing and was set at the end of the First World War with the action transferred to the Edwardian garden squares where it was performed.
Reception
Critical Acclaim
‘Thank you – we enjoyed the play very much, and the atmosphere in the square; we would like to be involved next year, if you do it again.’
– Tracey and Stephen Crampton, Leinster
‘It was a delightful evening and what a feat to get all that off the ground! I particularly enjoyed a production that relied so much on the text, and not on any gimmicks – will you please pass that on to the actors?’
– Nicoline Gatehouse, Norland
‘Saturday night a triumph. Hope all going well for the others. Looking forward to next year.’
– Judith Breuer, Queen’s Park
‘A big thank you to all of your team for a very memorable evening. We have had many texts and emails from residents saying how much they enjoyed the production and that they especially appreciated the energy and enthusiasm of your young cast.’
– Fiona Fleming Brown, Elgin & Arundel Gardens
‘We really loved it. A full range of delicious characters, some prudent cutting of the script, and simple but effective staging and costumes. All MOST satisfactory. Roll on next year is what I say!’
– Kerry Hood, Connaught
‘It was a wonderful production, crackling with life, and we very much enjoyed being part of the project. I would be very happy to repeat next year.’
– Reverend Alan Everett, St James’s Gardens
‘Everyone in our party was just delighted with the setting and the high quality of the acting. I hope that this can become a tradition for the communal garden squares.’
– Holly Smith, Cleveland Square
‘What an enchanted evening. It really was such an enjoyable and clever production and excellent performances.’
– Nick Sayers, St James’s Square
Actors
Cast
Andrew MacBean
Leonato
Andrew trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Recent Stage Credits include: She Stoops to Conquer at Theatre Royal Bath; Twelfth Night & Much Ado About Nothing with Reading Between the Lines. Other credits include; Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic, Richard III for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, Pioneers at Theatre 503, Rough Crossing (Vienna’s English Theatre), The Little Prince (Bikeshed, Exeter), Mother Goose, (Northcott), Twelfth Night, King Lear and Taming of the Shrew (Creation), Picture of Dorian Gray (European Tour), Lady’s Not for Burning and Out of Bounds (Finborough), 1:36:2600 (Regent’s Park), A Christmas Carol (Trafalgar), MacBeth (UK Tour), Killer Joe (Bristol Old Vic) and Titus Andronicus, Richard 3 and Measure for Measure (RSC).
Film & TV includes Dr. Phallus in The Keith Lemon Film, Post Code for CBBC, Eastenders, Keith Lemon’s Fit, Whistleblower, Torchwood, Mrs. David, The Great Escape, The Wrong Sea, Double Top, Dead Cat and Poirot:Evil Under the Sun.
Recent radio credits include Crossparty, Stagefright, We Are Not The BBC and Springheel’d Jack for the Wireless Theatre Company.
Hannah Genesius
Hero/Verges
Hannah trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes: Merry Wives of Windsor (Redgrave Theatre), The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Redgrave Theatre), London Road (Bristol Old Vic).
Radio includes: Dream Girl, The Imperfect Education of Sabrina Sidney, Home Front, The Archers (BBC Radio 4).
Film includes: London Road (BBC Film). Hannah is a Carleton Hobbs radio award winner.
Sam Jenkins-Shaw
Don John/Watchman
Sam trained at LAMDA.
Theatre includes: Hamlet (The Cockpit Theatre), Macbeth (The Catford Broadway Theatre), The Future Conditional (The Old Vic), Long Story Short (The Charing Cross Theatre).
Christopher Levens
Dogberry
Christopher trained at LAMDA.
Theatre includes: Sea Life (The Hope Theatre), All That Lives (Ovalhouse), Alice’s Adventures Underground (Les Enfants Terribles), Lovesong of the Electric Bear (The Hope Theatre/ The Arts Theatre), The Tune is Always Better on the Outside (Southwark Playhouse), Ghost Stories (Arts Theatre).
Television includes: Suspects (Channel 5)
Gwilym Lloyd
Don Pedro
Gwilym trained at Drama Centre London.
Theatre includes: Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus, A Mad World my Masters (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew (GB Theatre Company), A Day at the Racists, The Time of Your Life (Finborough Theatre), As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe).
Lydia May
Conrade
Lydia trained at Millenium Performing Arts. This is Lydia’s Shakespeare debut.
Patrick Myles
Benedick
Patrick trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes: Henry VI parts One, Two and Three (Shakespeare’e Globe), Bush Bazaar (Bush Theatre), The Hairy Ape (Southwark Playhouse), The Black Diamond (Punchdrunk), Romeo and Juliet (Creation Theatre), The Spanish Tragedy, Pera Palas, Tartuffe (Arcola Theatre), The Lady’s Not For Burning, The Freedom of the City (Finborough Theatre), The Revenger’s Tragedy (Southwark Playhouse), Love’s a Luxury (Orange Tree Theatre).
Television includes: Doctors (BBC), The Bill, Secret Smile, Planespotting (ITV).
Shazia Nicholls
Margaret
Shazia trained at LAMDA.
Theatre includes: Under My Skin (Pegasus Theatre Trust), Girls Like That (The Unicorn Theatre), Absent Friends (Lyric Hammersmith).
Television includes: Doctor Foster (BBC).
Oliver Tilney
Claudio
Oliver trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Theatre includes: The Great Gatsby (The Guild of Misrule), The Capone Trilogy (Jethro Compton Ltd.), Mamma Mia (Novello Theatre).
Beatrice
Joannah Tincey
Joannah trained at RADA.
Theatre includes: Jane Eyre (National Theatre/Theatre Royal Nottingham), Mobile 4, The Seven Year Twitch, The Stepmother, The Man Who Pays the Piper (The Orange Tree Theatre), A Doll’s House (Theatre by the Lake).
Television includes: Doctors (BBC), The Royal Bodyguard (Hat Trick).
Joannah also runs the Theatre Company Two Bit Classics, and adapted and performed in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to be performed by 2 actors.
She was a winner of the 2007 Carleton Hobbs Award for BBC Radio.
Behind the Scenes
Crew
Jo Hufton
Director
Joe trained at LAMDA.
Theatre includes: Portia (Theatre 503), Back to the Future, Dead Poets’ Society (Secret Cinema), Scarlet (Southwark Playhouse), Outland, A Little Princess (Belt Up Theatre).
Joe was Associate Artist for the international award-winning company Belt Up Theatre.
Emily Stuart
Designer
Emily Stuart trained at Wimbledon School of Art.
Costume design includes: Robin Hood (The Theatre, Chipping Norton), The Fifth column, Antigone, What the Women Did (Southwark Playhouse), Martine (The Finborough Theatre), The Living Room, Anyone can Whistle, Bloody Poetry, Natural Affection (Jermyn Street Theatre), Shiverman (Theatre 503), Murder In The Cathedral (Oxford Playhouse). London Wall (Finborough Theatre and St James Theatre) Flock (Northern stage) Lingua France (Finborough Theatre and and E9E59 – New York) EX (Soho Theatre).
Film includes: Drunk Butter ies (Rockhopper productions), London Wall (Master Media).
Emily has twice been the recipient of the Off West End award for best costume design: in 2011 for Anyone Can Whistle and again in 2016 for The Cutting of The Cloth. She was nominated in the same category in 2014 for Martine.
James Robert Ball
Music Director
Theatre includes: Rent, Company, The Rat Pack, The Blues Brothers – Live!
His current writing project Bang Out Of Line has been workshopped in Guildford and in London (Tristan Bates).
Fiona Mccullough
Production Manager
Fiona studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes: Heels of Glory: A Drag Action Musical (Chelsea Theatre), Shakespeare Untold (UK tour), Fascinating Aida’s Dillie Keane (UK tour). The Gruffalo; The Gruffalo’s Child; Emily Brown and the Thing; Alfie White Space Explorer (Uk and international touring with Tall Stories), Waiting for Godot, The Importance of Being Earnest, Equus (London Classic Theatre), Parklife, Barricade (No Fit State Circus), The Crocodile (Manchester International Festival), Jonah and Otto (Park Theatre), Black Stuff (Volcano Theatre).
Fiona has also recently worked for Invisible Dot and Those Magic Beans.
Alix Henry
Stage Manager
Alix has just arrived back from Australia after working as a Production Coordinator on the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Theatre includes: Glasshouse (Cardboard Citizens UK tour), The Importance of Being Earnest (London Classic Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Talkwood Productions).
Alix also works regularly at Southwark Playhouse and has been working for Assembly Festival in Edinburgh since 2012.
Savannah Whaley
Digital Marketing
Savannah is on the Finborough Theatre’s Literary Team and is an arts critic for Londonist.
Theatre includes: Cathy Come Home (Cardboard Citizens).
On Next
2024 Production
Stay tuned for further updates.
Summer 2024
Previous Years
Past Productions
Twelfth Night
2023
The Tempest
2022
A Midsummer Night's Dream
2019
As You Like It
2018
Romeo & Juliet
2017
Much Ado About Nothing
2016