This Shakespeare sequence is a mini-opera for soprano, baritone and piano.

There is dialogue between the seven musical items which takes a fresh look at the badinage between Beatrice and Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing). Hilary Spiers has freely compiled this hybrid libretto from a variety of Shakespearean sources.

Pragmatically, the piano accompanist acts as a third (seated) character for a total of just seven spoken lines to facilitate textual cohesion. The characters act out the scenario, which is interspersed with song settings using the following texts:

• Under the Greenwood Tree (As You Like It)
• Come Away, Come Away Death (Twelfth Night, II iv)
• O Mistress Mine (Twelfth Night)
• Sonnets XL (1-4) and CXX (1-8)
• It was a Lover and His Lass (As You Like It, V iii)
• Wedding is Great Juno’s Crown (As You Like It, V iv)
• Sonnet X (13-14)