Nothing Much to Do (#NMTD) is a literary-inspired webseries written, directed, and produced by the Candle Wasters. It tells the story of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing using three different Youtube channel platforms: Nothing Much to Do (Beatrice and Hero's POV), benaddicktion (Benedick's POV), and The Watch (Dogberry and Verges POV, as well as a general narrative-omniscient content from Ursula). The first episode currently has over 90,000 views. To watch all of the videos in order, use this playlist.
The Story
Nothing Much to Do is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing that takes place in a modern New Zealand high school. The series is told mostly through "vlogs" (echoing the Shakespearean practice of soliloquizing, this time to a camera) from two of the play's main characters: Beatrice and Benedick.
Beatrice Duke begins the series as a bored New Zealand high schooler with "nothing much to do" as she waits for her cousin, Hero Duke, to come back from piano practice. As the series continues, the two cousins introduce other characters in their group of friends, such as Pedro Donaldson (confident, football captain, student leader), Meg Winters (fun-loving, dating Robbie Barachio), Ursula (quiet, aspiring filmmaker), Claudio (awkward, desperate for love, football goalie), Balthazar (shy, man of little words, musician), John Donaldson (Pedro's brother, often seen brooding) - and even Benedick Hobbes, Beatrice's rival since they were fourteen. When Benedick makes his own rival youtube channel and young detectives Dogberry and Verges begin uploading to The Watch, the whole story becomes much more multifaceted and complicated - like the original Shakespeare play! The viewers watch as certain story elements become clear for some of the characters several episodes before the rest of the friends understand what is happening. Knowledge of the play Much Ado About Nothing is not necessary to enjoy this series, however, as the ending is a very solid conclusion of the series' various shenanigans.
In addition to playing out over three Youtube platforms, the series also has a transmedia aspect which viewers can explore here. While the series was running, they provided a way for the characters to connect with their audience and keep them updated on things they might not have vlogged about. Beatrice had a Twitter account (twitter.com/beatricetheduke), Hero had an Instagram (instagram.com/herotheduke), and Ursula had a Tumblr (watchprojects.tumblr.com).
Cast
- Harriett Maire as Beatrice Duke
- Pearl Kennedy as Hero Duke
- Jake McGregor as Benedick Hobbes
- Matthew J. Smith as Claudio
- Caleb Wells as Pedro Donaldson
- George Maunsell as John Donaldson
- Holly Parkes as Verges
- David Hannah as Dogberry
- Tina Pan as Ursula
- Jessica Stansfield as Meg Winter
- Reuben Hudson as Balthazar Jones
- John Burrows as Robbie Borachio
- Lucie Everett-Brown as Cora Anderson
- Alex MacDonald as Leo Duke
Episodes
Main article: Nothing Much To Do (Episodes)
Transmedia
Character accounts:
The Candle Wasters
The project's creators call themselves "The Candle Wasters," a reference to one of Leonato's lines in Act I Scene V of Much Ado About Nothing. They are a group of four women, aged 18 to 21, who met while attending the same high school in Auckland, New Zealand. Claris Jacobs (Tumblr) and Minnie Grace (Tumblr) attend university and live together in Wellington, while sisters Sally Bollinger (Tumblr) and Elsie Bollinger (Tumblr) live in Auckland. Sally and Elsie also produce a Daily-Show-inspired-webshow titled White Man Behind a Desk.
The group can be followed on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.