Speak Easy Speak Love

When Beatrice must leave her school and Benedick chooses to leave his they end up at Hey Nonny Nonny, a failing speakeasy run by Beatrice's cousin, Hero. During the 1920s prohibition era, they become involved in dealing with gangsters, avoiding the police, and holding parties to save the speakeasy that means so much to all of them. This adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" offers a variety of uses in gr. 9-12 classrooms, including independent reading, literature circles, comparison to and analysis of the original text, and discussion or debate of prohibition, women’s changing roles, and whether it’s ever acceptable to break the law.