The plays of Shakespeare are springboards for endless experiment. For instance, the 2023 production & Juliet brimmed with pop music, while the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, (based on The Taming of the Shrew,) isn’t a play at all. And yet, the Bard’s English is still perceived by many as too wordy and hard to follow. This was even an issue for Hayley Atwell, who hesitated about the potentially “Hey Nonny Nonny” tone of Much Ado About Nothing when the director Jamie Lloyd approached her to play Beatrice. To her delight, Lloyd shared an inspiration playlist filled with music that was anything but Elizabethan. His modern-day adaptation—featuring Tom Hiddleston as Benedick—is vibrant and playful, placing a strong emphasis on dance. In rehearsals, Atwell said, “we were dancing like nobody was watching … but everyone is watching!” After a London run last year, the show arrives in New York. —Jeanne Malle