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Artwork for Much Ado About Rom-Coms

Much Ado About Rom-Coms

A conversation with Kate Jinx, Mark Wilson, David McInnis and Jessica Dettmann

Thursday 4 December, 6pm

Southbank Theatre, The Lawler

Free event

From Shakespeare’s sparring lovers to Hollywood meet-cutes, this free panel unpacks what keeps us hooked on rom-coms – and why we need them now more than ever.

Approx. 1 hour

Catch the 7.30pm performance of Much About About Nothing right after this free event (tickets sold separately).

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About the Event

From Shakespeare’s sparring lovers to modern-day meet-cutes, the romantic comedy has long shaped how we understand love, conflict, miscommunication and connection. To coincide with Much Ado About Nothing, this lively in-conversation event explores how Shakespeare helped create the rom-com, and how filmmakers and writers continue to reinvent it for new audiences.

Join moderator and Melbourne International Film Festival senior programmer Kate Jinx, Much Ado About Nothing director Mark Wilson, Shakespeare scholar Professor David McInnis and novelist Jessica Dettmann (Your Friend and Mine, Without Further Ado) for a discussion about the rom-com's enduring appeal.

This refreshingly down-to-earth event is one for hopeless romantics, Shakespeare fans, film buffs and anyone who believes a little romance can go a long way.

This event is free to attend but registrations are essential. Registering for this event does not include a ticket to any performance of Much Ado About Nothing. Tickets to the production can be purchased separately here.

 

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

Artwork for Kate Jinx

Kate Jinx

Kate Jinx is a writer, critic and film curator. She is a Senior Programmer at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), regular contributor to The Monthly, Founding Program Director of Golden Age Cinema and host of the culture podcast See Also.

Artwork for David McInnes

David McInnes

David McInnis is Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University and Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly. He is editing Timon of Athens for the Arden Shakespeare's Fourth Series.

Artwork for Jessica Dettmann

Jessica Dettmann

Jessica Dettmann is the author of four novels - Your Friend and Mine, Without Further Ado, This Has Been Absolutely Lovely and How to be Second Best - and one book for children, There's No Such Book. Before becoming a writer, she was a book editor. Even before that she once worked as the City of Sydney Christmas Angel, sitting on top of the Town Hall in a gown that reached the street, almost exclusively so she would have an interesting job to mention if she ever had the opportunity to write an author bio. She studied English at the University of Sydney, the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont, and Lincoln College, Oxford. She lives in Sydney with her family and her two cats.

Artwork for Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is Associate Artist at Melbourne Theatre Company. He has an established practice as a director, dramaturg, devisor, performer and writer. Recent directing credits include Jacky (Melbourne Theatre Company, Belvoir) and Bighouse Dreaming (Melbourne Fringe Festival, Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival); Code of Conduct (Midsumma Festival); World Problems (Theatre Oostblok, Amsterdam) and Sweet Phoebe (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre). He has a long-term collaboration with Brian Lipson, Alice Will Caroline and Triage Live Art Collective, and as dramaturg on Emily Godard’s This is Eden. Before COVID, he also created and performed three radical Shakespeare adaptations: Unsex Me, Richard II and Anti-Hamlet, which were seen across the country. He trained at Monash University, Victorian College of the Arts and Ecole Philippe Gaulier, and is an International Fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe in London. He teaches and directs regularly at VCA. His shows have won awards at Melbourne Fringe and at Melbourne's Green Room Awards.

Get Directions

The Lawler

140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006