This remarkable edition features a newly edited text of Much Ado About Nothing based on the latest scholarship, along with detailed essays, commentary and photos. On the integrated audio CD, narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi, you can hear the play through multiple productions from different eras, and experience different actors' interpretations of the characters. Hear 26 great performances including: --Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Saskia Reeves, Pauline Jameson, and Maureen Fitzgerald as Beatrice--Sir John Gielgud, Samuel West, Richard Johnson, and John Horton as Benedick--Bonus audio discussion of a voice coach's perspective on "Speaking Shakespeare" with Andrew Wade, voice consultant for Shakespeare in Love See photographs from notable productions: --Kenneth Branagh's 1993 film--Kristen Johnson, Jimmy Smits, David Hyde Pierce at the Joseph Papp Public Theater --Harriet Walter, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Janet Suzman at the Royal Shakespeare Company--Costume renderings from the 1958 production at the Shakespeare Memorial Theate Read essays and commentary with insights from: --Courtney Lehmann, author of Shakespeare Remains: Theater to Film, Early Modern to Postmodern, on Kenneth Branagh's 1993 film--Douglas Lanier, editor of Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture on Much Ado About Nothing as inspiration for contemporary media--Text editor Jeffrey Kahan, series editor of Shakespeare Millennium, on productions of Much Ado About Nothing throughout history Readers will also learn about contemporary and film performances, explore the play from a modern cast's point of view, and uncover the history of Shakespeare's world with additional essays bynoted experts.