Shakespeare in LA

Here’s a Fringe production with a pretty “out there” spin on its Shakespeare source material. From the company’s description: “Better than Shakespeare! presents a revisionist Much Ado About Nothing. New music, new intrigues, twists and turns… and aliens. Because we think The Bard could use a little help. Don’t you? We’re calling it, Much Ado About Something. The Something is Aliens.”

Intrigued? Writer/director Megan Kelly and producer/actor Kate Grabau talk about their twist on Shakespeare’s classic comedy and their new company.

Megan Kelly: A Writer’s Perspective

Much Ado About Something arose from a discussion Kate and I had over coffee back at the first of the year. We had always wanted to work together; we loved Shakespeare; and the previous year, in an especially busy moment, I had said I wanted to direct her in As You Like It, at some point. So over coffee, Kate called me out. “Let’s do it for the Fringe this year.” And I laughed, and nodded, and pretended to agree to it. And I kept pretending, so much so that I found myself saying, “As You Like It is too hard. What about Much Ado?” Pretty immediately – and both of us still pretending at this point – the discussion turned to how to make Shakespeare Fringe appropriate. We wouldn’t have very much money. Shakespeare is always done. Much Ado is always done. What could we offer a Fringe audience?  More