The RSC’s vibrant new production of Much Ado About Nothing transports Shakespeare’s comedy of love and deceit through space and time to modern-day India.

Starring Meera Syal as Beatrice and Paul Bhattacharjee as Benedick, the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing is the third production of the play to be seen in Theatreland in the last two years, following productions at the Globe and Wyndham’s theatre.

The production marks the RSC debut for Syal, who is best known for her screen appearances in Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At Number 42.

Bhattacharjee’s previous RSC credits include Arabian Nights, Edward III and The Island Princess. He now returns to the company having recently appeared in The Bomb and The Great Game at the Tricycle theatre.

Directed by Iqbal Khan, Much Ado About Nothing plays at the Noël Coward theatre following its run at the Courtyard theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.