Since social media’s such great entertainment already—admit it, that’s why you stay “friends” with people you secretly believe are psychotic sociopaths and would hide from in real life—it’s almost surprising that more professionals haven’t bothered to co-opt it into formal entertainment beyond fake Twitter feeds. Or maybe that is the problem: that social media’s such great entertainment already.
Anyway, Isinglass, a Portland, Oregon-based theater company, has decided to take the plunge by bringing Shakespeare to social media, specifically Much Ado About Nothing. This weekend the “cast,” which includes a few Chicagoans, will impersonate Beatrice, Benedick, and crew, updating their Facebook and Twitter feeds as though the events in the play are unfolding in real time.
It’s really a good thing that they chose a comedy. It would be a real drag to read about how someone choked his wife to death or was fatally stabbed in a sword fight.