DETROIT, August 7, 2018 — Shakespeare in Detroit will perform Much Ado Para Nada — a vibrant adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing — in Clark Park and Campus Martius Park, respectively.

“We are so excited to open our summer season in Southwest Detroit in Clark Park, which inspired the adaptation by Bernardo Mazón, and to close our season in the bustling, cosmopolitan neighborhood of Campus Martius Park,” says SiD Founder, Sam White. “We’re so grateful to the City of Detroit and the Downtown Detroit Partnership for saving our show and making sure that it was accessible and available for residents of Detroit from a city neighborhood to the busy blocks of downtown.”

The theatre company, which has performed outdoors the past five summers with (2013) Othello at Grand Circus Park, (2014) A Midsummer Night’s Dream at New Center Park and Romeo and Juliet also at Grand Circus Park, (2015) Macbeth, (2016) The Merchant of Venice and (2017) Hamlet also at New Center Park, is now in its final free, outdoor season in Detroit, and the theatre company couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Shakespeare’s plays to new spaces.

According to White, who was born and raised in Detroit, it’s important to implement a more strategic outreach plan that allows SiD to teach and share theatre with those who need it the most.

“We are moving into a brand new space donated to us by the Banyan Foundation on the Riverfront in 2020 and so, theoretically, this will be our last, free outdoor season,” says White. “We are looking forward to going directly to schools and creating programming that more intentionally impacts underserved students who sit in the same desks I sat in as a graduate of Detroit Public Schools.”

The theatre company is also planning to bring in more visiting — national and international — artists to Detroit to heighten the artistic value of its productions. This endeavor began last year with the former Associate Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, Dean Gabourie, directing its 2017 production of Hamlet. This year, the company is bringing in New York-based, Wayne State’s Hilberry-alum, Jennifer Tuttle who came back to Detroit out of appreciation for SiD’s values and mission.

“Detroit made me the artist that I am, and I tell everyone that. I love this city, and I love that SiD is inclusive, that the public show is free and accessible to everyone, and that the people in the company reflect the community the theatre serves,” says Tuttle.”I’m so excited to be directing Much Ado Para Nada, because we’re telling Shakespeare’s timeless story in a new and innovative way, working with artists here and from across the country, while putting some focus on the community of Southwest Detroit.”

Additional support for the summer production of Much Ado Para Nada was made possible by the DTE Foundation, Strategic Staffing Solutions and The Detroit News.

Much Ado Para Nada plays Thursday, August 23rd at Clark Park located at 1130 Clark St. in Detroit (with a community picnic at 5 p.m. — bring your own food, drinks and lawn chairs — and show at 6:30 p.m.), Friday, August 24, Saturday, August 25 and Sunday, August 26 also at 6:30 p.m. EST in Campus Martius Park located at 800 Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit. Admission is FREE to the public. The show is 80 percent English and 20 percent Spanish with a 2-hour run-time and a 15-minute intermission.

About Shakespeare in Detroit

Shakespeare in Detroit is a nonprofit organization that enhances and supports the cultural, educational and financial growth of Detroit with professional theatre created through a conscious lens of equity, diversity and inclusion. Visit shakespeareindetroit.com for more information.