3 Days Left to Stream Public Theater's Much Ado About Nothing for Free

Presented as a bold interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece, the filming stars Danielle Brooks (“Orange is the New Black,” Broadway’s “The Color Purple”) and Grantham Coleman (“Buzzer,” “The Americans”). Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (“American Son,” “A Raisin in the Sun”) directs with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown (“Choir Boy”).

Here's how to stream Much Ado About Nothing for the next couple of days:

The filming of "Much Ado About Nothing" marks the first time in over 40 years that Great Performances presented a Public Theater production recorded live at the annual free Shakespeare in the Park event.

After a highly successful run at New York's Delacorte Theater, Much Ado About Nothing aired on PBS in July 2020 and later went under a paywall. The show then became available again to stream last month as a special encore presentation.

The show will now be available to stream for free until September 30th, 2022. A direct link to the stream has been added to our updating list of free musicals and plays.

The new adaptation is set in contemporary Georgia with an election race underway. "Much Ado About Nothing" finds the community of Messina celebrating a break from an ongoing war, but not all is peaceful - former rivals battle it out, revenge is sought and trickery runs amok in this timeless comedy of romantic vengeance and miscommunication.

In her review for The Guardian, Alexis Soloski said: "Any genuine production of Much Ado About Nothing has to deal with the darkness at its core, the idea that one wrong word, one wrong action, could render a woman worthless, better dead than alive – at least that’s what her own father (Chuck Cooper, occasionally struggling with the lines) insists. The “Nothing” in the title is Elizabethan street speak for vagina and whether or not one particular vagina still has its hymen intact is a major plot point. Leon seems to acknowledge it only fitfully, until a final, capricious gesture sweeps it away entirely."

The cast also features Jamar Brathwaite (Ensemble), Chuck Cooper (Leonato), Javen K. Crosby (Ensemble), Denzel DeAngelo Fields (Ensemble), Jeremie Harris (Claudio), Tayler Harris (Ensemble), Erik Laray Harvey (Antonio/Verges), Kai Heath (Messenger), Daniel Croix Henderson (Balthasar), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Friar Francis/Sexton), Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Ursula), Lateefah Holder (Dogberry), LaWanda Hopkins (Dancer), Billy Eugene Jones (Don Pedro), Margaret Odette (Hero), Hubert Point-Du Jour (Don John), William Roberson (Ensemble), Jaime Lincoln Smith (Borachio), Jazmine Stewart (Ensemble), Khiry Walker (Conrade/Ensemble), Olivia Washington (Margaret) and Latra A. Wilson (Dancer).