Much ado about nothing…

Poster for Mercury theatre

The Mercury Theatre in Colchester is the most active producing theatre in East Anglia, and is a vital centre of excellence in the east’s growing creative economy.

The brief

The war is over. The boys are coming home, and the girls can’t wait for a summer of games to begin! The most talked-about young solider, Claudio, falls instantly for innocent and beautiful Hero. Brilliant Beatrice and ladies’ man Benedick, pick up where they left off – warring with wit and words.

As the soldiers return to civilian life, everyone seems to want to scheme – friends and enemies alike. Can Beatrice and Benedick be fooled into falling in love with one another? Can everyone’s favourite “perfect” couple – Claudio and Hero – be made to doubt their love and be taken down a peg or two? And what is true love, anyway? Is all the romance and heartache just much ado about nothing?

Our job was to sum this up in a single striking image that could be used across all media, from the web to large format posters.

What we did

Everyone knows Shakespeare, this modern take on the play needed something to put across the contemporary credentials. Our solution uses closely cropped images to give glimpses of personality; seductive, intense, cheeky, sexy. All this without giving too much away, but leaving the audience wanting more.

At a glance

• Client: The Mercury theatre
• Category: Design, Poster
• Website: mercurytheatre.co.uk