Much Ado About Nothing
By William Shakespeare

I didn't really enjoy Shakespeare in school, and it wasn't until I started teaching his plays that I realized how much fun they are. Admittedly, the title "Much Ado About Nothing" pretty much sums up the plot, but this playful tale of a woman falsely accused of unfaithfulness is packed with wordplay, dirty jokes, hilarious insults and the wittiest dialogue you'll find anywhere. If you're hesitant to dive back into Shakespeare because the language can be difficult to understand, why not rent a film or audio version? (My favorite rendition is the 1993 film with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, but that's probably because everyone on-screen is so tan and gorgeous and appears to be on the verge of hysterics over the Bard's tongue-in-cheek script.) No matter how you rediscover Much Ado, you'll find a therapeutic reminder that the pitfalls of social interaction (jealousy, self-doubt, physical desire, etc.) have remained unchanged for centuries.