Sins of Omission: Textual Deletions in Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing

Abstract

Kenneth Branagh has almost single-handedly brought back the Bard. His 1993 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing resoundingly reminded audiences everywhere that “the play’s [still] the thing.” And perhaps no other Shakespeare production has been so responsible for touching off what has become an avalanche of successive (and mostly successful) remakes: nearly thirty English-language versions of twelve plays between 1993-1999—a third of which were romantic comedies.