B'way Update: Much Ado About Nothing

Hayley Atwell, Tom Hiddleston, and company
in Jamie Lloyd's staging of
Much Ado About Nothing.
Credit: Marc Brenner

Tony nominee Tom Hiddleston and Olivier nominee Hayley Atwell will recreate their starring roles in Jamie Lloyd's staging of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing when the production transfers from London's West End to Broadway this coming fall for a limited-ten week engagement at a Shubert theater to be announced. Hiddleston collaborated with Lloyd previously on Harold Pinter's Betrayal which played Broadway and London. Atwell is making her Broadway debut. She appeared in Lloyd's staging of The Pride and received an Olivier nomination. 

Both stars are probably best known for their recurring roles in the Marvel Comics Universe film and TV franchise. Hiddleston has played Loki, the evil brother of Thor and Atwell portrayed Agent Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger and the Agent Carter TV series.

This will be the 16th Broadway production of the Bard's comedy of clashing wills between combatants Beatrice and Benedick. Previous stagings have starred John Gielgud and Margaret Leighton (1959), Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes (1972) and Derek Jacobi (Tony Award) and Sinead Cusack (1985). Memorable Central Park versions were headlined by Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner in 1988 and by Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman in 2019. Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in a film version in 1993 opposite his then-wife Emma Thompson.