Principal cast announced for Ramps on the Moon’s ”Much Ado About Nothing”

Sheffield Theatres has announced the lead cast members and creative teams for its upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing, co-produced with Ramps on the Moon.

The show will open at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield in September before embarking on a UK Tour.

Daneka Etchells and Guy Rhys will play the principal roles of Beatrice and Benedick. Rhys returns to Sheffield having just performed in Chris Bush’s trilogy of plays Rock/Paper/Scissors, while Etchells makes her Sheffield Theatres debut.

Robert Hastie, artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, helms the production. The set and costume designer is Peter Mckintosh, British Sign Language director is Emily Howlett, audio description director is Chloë Clarke, lighting designer is Ian Scott, sound designer is Sam Glossop, composer is John Biddle, casting director is Jacob Sparrow, assistant director is Alexandra Whiteley, BSL consultant is Brian Duffy and BSL interpreter (lead) is Emma Dawber.

Opening in Sheffield from 9 to 24 September, the production will tour to Leeds Playhouse (27 September to 1 October), Birmingham Rep (4 to 8 October), Nottingham Playhouse (Tuesday 11 to 15 October), New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich (18 to 22 October), Theatre Royal Stratford East (1 to 5 November), and Salisbury Playhouse (8 to 12 November).

Ramps on the Moon is a consortium of theatres which aim to “enrich stories and the ways in which they are told by putting deaf and disabled artists and audiences at the centre of their work.”

Every performance features the use of integrated creative sign language, audio description and captioning.