Last time, we posted about the charm of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, which certainly speaks for itself. But equally delightful is the way that their romance is set in motion by the machinations of their friends – Shakespearean matchmaking, if you will.
In this scene, Hero and Ursula put on a play of their own, acting out a rehearsed exchange meant to capture Beatrice’s attention and cement her interest in Benedick. The language, of course, is centuries old, but the sense of friendship is timeless. This scene also works perfectly alongside the Beatrice and Benedick material for classwork and performances. Think about the two dialogues as offering a strong narrative arc that takes the audience – and the actors – from puckish inciting action (Hero and Ursula’s plot) to romantic resolution.
Because the sophistication of the scenes increases over this arc, the two excerpts are excellent for bringing different age groups together. In the past, we at Shakespeare For Our Children have given the parts of Hero and Ursula to younger children (7 – 9), while assigning the Beatrice and Benedick roles to older children (9 – 12).