Burning Coal Theatre Co Presents MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 12/3-20 At Meymandi Theatre

Burning Coal Theatre Company of Raleigh, NC will present Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing December 3 - 20, 2009 at Meymandi Theatre at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $20 or $15 for students, Seniors and Active Military. Thursday tickets are $10. Sunday, December 6 at 2 pm is Audio Described for the Hearing Impaired and ‘Pay What You Can' day. For reservations, please call 919-834-4001 or visit us at www.burningcoal.org.

ABOUT MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Shakespeare's classic comedy features a knock-down, drag-out battle of the sexes between the returning war hero, Benedick and the wickedly witty Beatrice. It contrasts their verbal sparring with the romantic though shallow "love" of the betrothed Hero and her Claudio. It mixes these light-hearted couples up with the sinister Don John and his diabolical sidekick, Borachio, the lovelorn uncle of Beatrice, Don Pedro, and the dimwitted, malapropism-spewing constable, Dogberry and his even dimmer-witted assistant, Verges. In this midst of this frolic, Shakespeare has crafted a fable for all times: a story of what is versus what seems to be, a story of real love versus feigned love, a story of goodness beneath the surface versus the insincerity of selfishness.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Emily Ranii, a recent graduate of Cornell University's theatre program, has directed The Lovesong of J. Robert Oppenheimer for Burning Coal, Nine Parts of Desire for PlayMakers' PRC2, The Body Project for Cornell University, Proof for the Temple Theatre and, as assistant director, Carnage by Tim Robbins for Robbins' Actors' Gang in Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE CAST
The cast of Much Ado About Nothing will include twelve actors from all over the state of North Carolina and beyond. They include Jeff Aguiar (Durham), James Anderson (Raleigh), Fred Corlett (Raleigh), Jason Durst (Greenville), Mark Filiaci (Durham), David Klionsky (Chapel Hill), Lori Mahl (Raleigh), Julie Oliver (Raleigh), Emilie Stark-Menneg (Ithaca, NY), Jenn Suchanec (Raleigh), Catori Swann (Greensboro), and Byrd Wilkins (Louisburg).

Reservations recommended. For further information, please contact Burning at 919.834.4001.