What's on Donate {{ ::vm.cart_counter }} Cart
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Artwork for Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing

14 NOV  —  20 DEC 2025

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Beatrice and Benedick are the most modern of Shakespeare’s couples. They have history. They love to hate each other, yet everyone around them knows they’re perfect for each other. Can love really conquer all?

Approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute interval

SEASON EXTENDED

Due to popular demand, we’ve added two extra performances on Saturday 20 December.

BOOK NOW
Explore
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘A clever, playful and very funny production.’

The Age
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘Just the feel-good boost we need.’

Limelight
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘It would be hard to imagine a better way to round out 2025 than with this exuberant production.’

ArtsHub
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘One of the best shows I’ve seen anywhere this year.’

Theatre First
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.’

— Beatrice
This is rated 0 out of 5 stars

‘She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.’

— Benedick

ABOUT THE SHOW

Strap in for a theatrical feast to send the year out on a high, with Shakespeare’s classic comedy of love’s ecstasy and complexities.

Beatrice and Benedick are the most modern of Shakespeare’s couples. They have history. They love to hate each other, yet everyone around them knows they’re perfect for each other. Can love really conquer all?

This brutally funny battle of the sexes is brought ferociously to life by Helpmann Award-winner Alison Bell (The Letdown) and AACTA Award-winner Fayssal Bazzi (Stateless) in his Melbourne Theatre Company debut.

Beatrice and Benedick will fight for their lives against their happily ever after in a play packed full of drama, intrigue and romance. Brimming with wild reversals and hilarious collisions, this outrageously popular romantic comedy has captivated audiences for centuries.

Now, for the first time in 30 years, the Company presents a brand new production of Shakespeare’s joyous war of words and razor-sharp banter, under the direction of Associate Artist Mark Wilson (Jacky).

 

 

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

  • Hearing Assistance

  • Audio Described

  • Tactile Tour

  • Open Captioning

  • Closed Captioning

  • Auslan Interpreted

Performance Type Performance Date(s)
Audio Described
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 6 December at 2pm
Tuesday 9 December at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
at venue 		Saturday 6 December at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 13 December at 2pm
Closed Captioning
via GoTheatrical App 		Saturday 13 December at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted More information here
Relaxed Performance Wednesday 17 December at 2pm - Visual Story
Artwork for Miela Anich

Miela Anich

Hero / Borachio / Ensemble

Miela Anich is a Naarm/Melbourne based actor originally from Cairns, Far North Queensland. She is of Torres Strait Islander, Croatian, Japanese and Chinese ancestry. Miela has previously been involved with Melbourne Theatre Company as an Associate Director for their collaboration with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company for Blak in the Room. Much Ado about Nothing will be her acting debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. Miela graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2021. Her theatre credits include ‘OMG I’m Blak!’ (La Mama); Goodbye Aunty Flo, The Score, Get your Geek On (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company); and The Crucible (Australian Shakespeare Company). Since graduating, Miela has immersed herself amongst the independent theatre scene, including shows in both the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals.

Artwork for Fayssal Bazzi

Fayssal Bazzi

Benedick

Fayssal Bazzi is an acclaimed Australian actor with an extensive career spanning theatre, television, and film. His theatre work includes productions The Deep Blue Sea, Mary Stuart (Sydney Theatre Company); Sami in Paradise, Ivanov, Food, The Government Inspector (Belvoir); Blasted (Malthouse Theatre); The Merchant of Venice (Bell Shakespeare Theatre); and others. On television, he has appeared in Stateless, Mr Inbetween, The Commons, Total Control (Season 3), Shantaram, Prosper, The Twelve (Season 2), C*A*U*G*H*T and Return to Paradise (Season 2). His film credits include Measure for Measure, The Merger, The Correspondent, Down Under, Black Site, Late Night With the Devil and Peter Rabbit (as the voice of Mr Todd). Fayssal won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for Stateless and received nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Measure for Measure, The Merger, and Late Night with the Devil.

Artwork for Alison Bell

Alison Bell

Beatrice

Alison Bell is an actor, writer, director and producer who started her career at Melbourne Theatre Company and is thrilled to be returning. She has appeared in several productions for the Company including What If If Only, Constellations, Betrayal, Tribes, Blackbird, The Ugly One, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Doubt and King Lear. She’s worked for Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia and received Helpmann Awards for Hedda Gabler (2013) and Doubt (2006). She also received a Green Room Award for her 2007 body of work. For the screen, Alison is best known for co-creating, producing and starring in the ABC/Netflix Original series The Letdown. Her work on the show earned her four AACTA awards. Most recently she appeared in ABC drama Significant Others and wrote on Love Me season 1 (Binge/Hulu) and Summer Love (ABC). She will appear in the upcoming Season 2 of Deadloch.

Artwork for Syd Brisbane

Syd Brisbane

Leonato / Ensemble

Syd made his Melbourne Theatre Company debut as The General in 37 in 2024 which then toured to Brisbane before returning by popular demand to Melbourne in January 2025. His other theatre credits include Animal Farm, Pride and Prejudice (Bloomshed); K Box, Because the Night, Night on Bald Mountain (Malthouse); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy Of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Henry IV Part One, Pygmalion and Alice In Wonderland (Australian Shakespeare Company); Victory (Sydney Theatre Company); He Stumbled (The Wrestling School, UK). His film credits include Silent Partner, Dirt Music, Red Dog True Blue, Boxing Day, Epsilon and Bad Boy Bubby. On TV he has appeared in Gnomes (Stan), Deadloch Season 2 (Amazon), High Country (Binge), Black Snow (Stan), Aftertaste Season 2 (ABC), Stateless (Netflix), Beaconsfield (Nine) and Conspiracy 365 (Foxtel).

Julie Forsyth

Julie Forsyth

Ursula / Dogberry / Ensemble

Julie Forsyth’s theatre credits for Melbourne Theatre Company include The House of Bernarda Alba, Endgame, Private Lives, The Visit, Great Expectations, The Tempest, The Chairs, The Comedy of Errors, and A Cheery Soul. Other theatre includes: Night On Bald Mountain, Elizabeth: Almost By Chance A Woman, Happy Days, Babes In The Wood, The Ham Funeral (Malthouse Theatre); The Book of Everything, The Ham Funeral, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Cloudstreet (Belvoir); The Dream (Bell Shakespeare); The President (The Gate, Dublin/ Sydney Theatre Company); Accidental Death of An Anarchist, Romeo and Juliet (Sydney Theatre Company); and Exit The King (Malthouse/ Belvoir). Awards include Helpmann Awards for Best Female Actor in a Play (Happy Days), Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play (Exit The King), and a Green Room Award for Best Actress (Kids’ Stuff). Julie was the recipient of the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards’ 2009 Individual Award.

Artwork for Remy Heremaia

Remy Heremaia

Claudio / Ensemble

Remy Heremaia (he/him) is a Māori actor originating from Auckland, New Zealand. He makes his professional debut in Much Ado About Nothing (Melbourne Theatre Company). A 2024 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and recent Hanson Graduate (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre), Remy has performed across both stage and screen. His theatre credits include Archimedes War, Everybody and Hibernation (VCA). On screen, he will soon appear in the short film Tommy. Remy looks forward to his Melbourne Theatre Company debut and continuing to share meaningful stories on stage and screen.

Artwork for Chanella Macri

Chanella Macri

Margaret / Bastard / Ensemble

Chanella is an Italian-Samoan actor, writer and theatre facilitator who grew up on Dharug Country. Trained at the Victorian College of the Arts, she graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Practice and as Valedictorian of the University of Melbourne VCA and MCM. Now based in Naarm, Chanella is the co-Artistic Director and co-CEO of Western Edge. Her theatre credits include Looking for Alibrandi (Brink Productions/Belvoir/Malthouse); Australian Realness (Malthouse); House (Barking Gecko) and The Grief Trilogy (VIMH). Other credits include Swift Street (SBS), The Secret She Keeps (Paramount+) and Neighbours (Fremantle Media). She has also been a comedy guest spot on season one of How to Stay Married (Network Ten).

Artwork for John Shearman

John Shearman

Prince / Ensemble

John’s stage credits include Destiny (Melbourne Theatre Company); the original Australian companies of War Horse (National Theatre of Great Britain/Global Creatures); Fawlty Towers – Live! (Louise Withers/Phil McIntyre); and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group/Sonia Friedman Productions/Colin Callender). In 2022, he was appointed Australian Associate Movement Director on Cursed Child. Other credits include Rakali (Melbourne Fringe); The Crucible (Complete Works Theatre Company); and Da Dink Inter Alia (VCA Masters); a national tour of The 26-Storey Treehouse (CDP Theatre Producers) and a Victorian & UK tour of You the Man (Deakin University). John will appear later this year in the Stan original series Dear Life. He is a 2011 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) where he was awarded the Pratt Bursary for Outstanding Actor. John also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Audience Studies/Semiotics from the University of Newcastle.

Artwork for Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson

Director

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.

Anna Cordingley

Anna Cordingley

Set Designer

Anna Cordingley APDG is an award-winning set, costume and exhibition designer with projects seen across Australia, Europe, Britain and the States. Designs for Melbourne Theatre Company include Sunday, Storm Boy, Jasper Jones (with Queensland Theatre), Abigail’s Party sets, Death and the Maiden costumes (with Sydney Theatre Company). Select credits include Multiple Bad Things (Back to Back); Amadeus collaboration with Romance Was Born (Sydney Opera House); Idomeneo (San Francisco Opera, Opera Australia and Victorian Opera), The Magic Flute, Carmen (Opera Australia); Cassandra, Echo & Narcissus, Salome (Victorian Opera); Don Giovanni (Opera Queensland); Hour Of The Wolf, Anna K (Malthouse Theatre); Anthony & Cleopatra, Richard III (Bell Shakespeare). Anna has won a Helpmann Award, a Sydney Theatre Award, an APDG Award and two Greenroom Awards. She is Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Head of Design and Production and Associate Director (Learning and Teaching) at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Karine Larché

Karine Larché

Costume Designer

Karine is a Set and Costume designer based in Melbourne. Recent credits include costume design for Laurinda (Melbourne Theatre company); set and costume design for The Delivery/Dance X (The Australian Ballet); costume design for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Melbourne Opera); set design associate for Hour of Wolf, set and costume design for Atlantis (Malthouse Theatre); set and costume design for The Fence (29 scenes); costume design for Underneath Ms Archer (St Martins); costume design for ABC short Gugu naGogo (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Karine previously trained as a costumier (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre, Lyon), and has worked as a costumier, mainly for The Australian Ballet and Melbourne Theatre Company. Karine has recently graduated from the Master of Design for Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts/ University of Melbourne and completed the Besen Family Artist Placement at Malthouse (Set and Costume design) in 2022.

Katie Sfetkidis

Katie Sfetkidis

Lighting Designer

Katie Sfetkidis is a lighting designer and contemporary artist based in Naarm. She has worked extensively in theatre, dance and experimental performance for 15 years both in Australia and internationally. Highlights include for Melbourne Theatre Company: Touching the Void; Come Rain or Come Shine; Abigail's Party and Blak in the Room (with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company). Other theatre credits: Homo Pentecostus (Joel Bray Dance/Malthouse Theatre); Loaded (Malthouse); Chase (Malthouse Theatre / A Daylight Connection); Looking for Alibrandi, SS Metaphor, Meme Girls (Malthouse Theatre); Monolith (Joel Bray Dance); Garabari (Joel Bray Dance/Chunky Move); Considerable Sexual License, Daddy (Joel Bray Dance). She is the winner of multiple Green Room Awards including Outstanding Lighting Design - Theatre Companies for Body of Work (2025) and has received numerous nominations.

Artwork for Joe Paradise Lui

Joe Paradise Lui

Composer & Sound Designer

Joe Paradise Lui is a submerging artist and undisputed winner of the 2013 Spirit of the Fringe award.  It has won no awards since. Joe Lui is a founding member of Renegade Productions. Within its aegis it creates experimental theatre and performance works. Joe Lui is also a freelance director, writer, and a sound and lighting designer. Its most recent independent directing work was Whitesnake3000, presented at Co3. 

Artwork for Amy Cater

Amy Cater

Intimacy Coordinator

Amy Cater is part of the first cohort of qualified Intimacy Coordinator practitioners, training and working since 2018 when the profession first arrived in Australia. Previous stage works include Rebecca, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cost of Living, Is God Is, Seventeen, Jacky, Cyrano, Sunday, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Fun Home, As You Like It (Melbourne Theatre Company); Oscar (The Australian Ballet); and &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group). Selected screen credits include Love Me, The Newsreader, The Rooster, Bad Behaviour, The Clearing, Safe Home, Swift St, Sleeping Dogs, Erotic Stories, Better Man, Inside and Exposure. Amy has 20 years’ experience working with sexuality, embodiment, consent and intimacy; specifically within the adult industry, client therapy and education spaces. Amy was a director/senior photographer of ethical erotica for 4 years. She is a qualified psychosomatic therapist, sexological bodyworker and somatic sex educator. Amy has a trained background in theatre, dance and the performing arts. Amy mentors and consults on sexuality and gender best practice. Her work in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education is a key component of her cultural influence in the Intimacy Coordinator industry.

Geraldine-Cook-Dafner-600x800.jpg

Geraldine Cook-Dafner

Voice & Text Coach

Geraldine Cook-Dafner previously worked for Melbourne Theatre Company on Rebecca, A Streetcar Named Desire, Meet Me at Dawn, Escaped Alone and What If If Only, I Wanna Be Yours, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Sunday, Girls & Boys, The Lifespan of a Fact, Home, I’m Darling, Golden Shield, Wild, The Children, Hay Fever, Di and Viv and Rose, Melbourne Talam, John, The Odd Couple, Straight White Men, The Distance, Birdland, The Waiting Room, Top Girls, The Heretic, The Swimming Club, The 39 Steps, The History Boys, All My Sons, The Clean House, Boy Gets Girl, Take Me Out and The Glass Menagerie. She was the voice and dialect coach for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, &Juliet and The Picture of Dorian Gray (London/New York) and has worked for ABC, SBS and Musica Viva. Geraldine holds a doctorate from the University of Melbourne and is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, where previously she held positions as Head of Voice, Head of School of Performing Arts and Associate Dean.

Artwork for Savanna Wegman

Savanna Wegman

Associate Set Designer

Savanna Wegman is a set and costume designer and writer of Chinese, Malaysian and Dutch descent, based on unceded Wurundjeri land in Naarm/Melbourne. She is a part of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Future Creatives program and was Assistant Designer to Marg Horwell on My Brilliant Career (Melbourne Theatre Company). Recent design credits include Set & Costume Design Katya Kabanova (Victorian Opera); Pride and Prejudice (The Bloomshed); Converted! (Australian Theatre for Young People, Sydney Festival); The Last Train to Madeline, Climbers, Brittany and The Mannequins (Fever103 Theatre); Biographica (Lyric Opera); and STAUNCH ASF (Amelia Jean O’Leary). Savanna has also been Associate Designer for Dann Barber on productions Candide (Victorian Opera); Far Away (Patalog Theatre); The Crocodile (Spinning Plates Co.); The Dream Laboratory (Essential Theatre) and The Mermaid. Her designs for The Last Train to Madeline, Biographica, and Brittany and the Mannequins have earned her three Green Room Award nominations.

Artwork for Marni Mount

Marni Mount

Assistant Director

Marni Mount is a director, actor, and dramaturg living and working in Naarm/Melbourne. She is a graduate of the Australian National University and the Victorian College of the Arts and has worked extensively as an independent artist in Naarm, and in her hometown of Canberra. Marni is delighted to be making her debut with Melbourne Theatre Company as part of the 2025 MinterEllison Future Directors Initiative, having interned with the company in 2023 on Escaped Alone and What If If Only. Recent directing credits include POTUS, Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive (Lightning Jar Theatre); MinusOneSister (Double Bluff); The Camel (Flick Flick City), and the critically acclaimed world premiere of Trophy Boys (The Maybe Pile, Soft Tread Enterprises). Marni was the 2024 Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre Hansen Graduate Director and is a part of the 2025 Malthouse Artist Development Program.

Artwork for Harrie Hogan

Harrie Hogan

Assistant Lighting Designer

Harrie Hogan is a lighting designer working across theatre, circus, musical theatre and experimental performance. She grew up in Sydney before completing a Bachelor's Degree at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2019. Her recent design credits include World Problems (Melbourne Theatre Company); Honour (Red Stitch Actors' Theatre, 2025); Of The Land on Which We Meet (Na Djinang Circus, 2025); Milk + Blood (fortyfive Downstairs, 2024). She is also an ongoing design collaborator with theatre collective Pony Cam, most recently for The Orchard (Malthouse Theatre, 2025). She has been nominated for three Green Room Awards for her work on Kerosene, Sirens and Grace and her designs have been featured in state festivals and toured overseas. Harrie is a keen collaborator and is proud to be counted amongst the growing number of women in her field.

Artwork for Emma Holgate

Emma Holgate

Assistant Composer & Sound Designer

Emma Holgate (she/her) is a proud Mandaburra woman (FNQ), born on Ngarigo Country (NSW) and now based in Naarm on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. In 2023, she completed a Production Traineeship with a Certificate III in Live Production and Technical Services at Arts Centre Melbourne. Emma was named Trainee of the Year at the 2024 Victorian Training Awards and Runner-Up at the 2024 Australian Training Awards. Emma is a participant in the ILBIJERRI Theatre Company BlackStage program and Melbourne Theatre Company's Future Creatives program, specialising in sound, composition, audio visual and lighting design. She is also Production Coordinator at BlakDance and Project Officer for the Melbourne Theatre Company Deadly Creatives program, and was Production Manager Peggy Sue & Wiran’s Dream – A Double Bill (YIRRAMBOI). Her credits include Blak in the Room (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company); Scar Trees (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company); Three Blak Ravers (The Motherless Collective, YIRRAMBOI).

Artwork for Lyndall Grant

Lyndall Grant

Fight Choreographer

Latest from Backstage

Get Directions

The Sumner

140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006