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Daniela Nardini heads a quintet of Scottish actors joining the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scottish Symphony Orchestra in an abridged performance of Shakespeare's irresistible comedy Much Ado About Nothing at Glasgow City Halls on Saturday 28 May. A story about unwilling lovers Benedick and Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's most popular comic plays, and features incidental music written by one of Hollywood's most celebrated composers, Erich Korngold, performed by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ SSO.

Ms Nardini, best known for her BAFTA-winning role in ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two's This Life, plays the role of Beatrice, playing opposite Liam Brennan as her hesitant lover Benedict.

One of Scotland's leading stage actors, two-time BAFTA winner Iain Robertson performs the role of the scheming Don John. Mr Robertson is joined by Michael MacKenzie, familiar from his many appearances on TV, as Leanato and Jimmy Chisholm as Dogbury.

This abridged performance of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Jonathan Best, also features five talented young actors from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In this semi-staged version, the actors will appear on stage alongside the full ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ SSO.

The composer of the incidental music, Erich Korngold, is most famous as the composer of rapturously romantic film scores to swashbucklers Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, and The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex, and his scores have been recognised ever since as classics of their kind.

The evening also includes the overture to Berlioz's operatic version of the play, Béatrice Et Bénédict, and orchestral extracts from Humperdinck's rarely performed The King's Children.

The entire performance will be recorded for future broadcast on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3.

Notes to Editors

Tickets: £8.00 (£5.00 concessions): unreserved seating.

City Halls Box Office, Candleriggs, Glasgow G1 1NQ. Tel: 0141 353 8000.

SD3