Ali Fltecher

Johnson and Wales University 

Senior

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Hi everyone! My name is Ali and I’m from Boston! Two of my favorite things are beer and the Bard. I work as a brewer’s assistant at a local brewery! In my spare time, I love watching Shakespearean productions, reading sonnets, and analyzing the themes of his work.

Much About Nothing

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Loving someone and being loved in return can be perceived as a strength, something that bolsters one’s constitution and provides them with a reason to continue living, to fight for a world of peace. Experiencing love can act as a respite amidst a world of strife. However, it can also be seen as a weakness. Love begets vulnerability and can provide one’s enemies with a way to cause someone immense pain and suffering. In William Shakespeare’s comedic play, Much Ado About Nothing, soldiers who have just returned from war and the women of the town they return home to find themselves occupying their time by playing games of love with one another. But what happens to these love games when survival is not guaranteed? How would these soldiers have regarded the notion of falling in love and of wooing a beautiful woman if they were also fighting for their lives every day? 

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In an apocalyptic world, in the medieval city of Wharram Percy in Northeast England which was abandoned in the 1500s due to vampire suspicions, the characters of Much Ado About Nothing become a band of vampire hunters who must focus daily on their survival while also navigating what it means to love. Combining all the adventure of The Walking Dead, the fantasy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and romantic whimsy of Shakespeare, this production would address the question of how war influences love, and how loving someone in times of war can be the bravest choice of all.