Ben and Beatriz

Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare play, although I don't remember there being quite as much hate-fcking in the original as there is in Ben and Beatriz, which updates the setting to Cape Cod, post-Trump but pre-COVID, and the MCs to Harvard seniors. The titular characters are forced into close proximity when Ben's BFF Claudio and Beatriz's cousin Hero decide to spend Spring Break together at Ben's family's beach house. Beatriz hates Ben because he's a rich, white fckboy who is being groomed to be the heir to his father's financial empire. And because once, in a drunken haze three years ago, she slept with him and he ghosted her. Ben doesn't hate Beatriz as much as he is annoyed by her social justice warrior attitude towards absolutely everything he does or says or represents. If only she knew how much he still thinks about the night they had sex, or the fact that he loves reading Jane Austen novels.

During the aforementioned hate fcking, Ben and Beatriz slowly open up to each other, despite a lot of poor communication and Big Misunderstandings. Until the Claudio/Hero dynamic plays out much like in the original, and disaster ensues. My enjoyment of the book was hindered by the fact I didn't really like either of the MCs. Ben *is a rich douchebag for much of the story, and although his toxic masculinity is radically reduced, he still engages in a lot of problematic behavior when shit goes down about Hero. And he pretty much ignores his alleged best friend Meg, when it is obvious that she is not okay emotionally or mentally.

Beatriz is sanctimonious and judgmental; she's a Latinx with dark skin who bristles at every microaggression Ben or his friends make and is prone to long, preachy speeches. It's true that there's not much room to compromise for a progressive woman in a relationship with the son of rabid Trump supporters, and Ben obviously needed to be enlightened about the evils of late-stage capitalism. But I want to see both MCs on a journey towards something, and it feels like Ben is the only one moving while Beatriz stands still.

The love story may not be convincing, but modernizing the story does give Hero a chance for a much more satisfying resolution than Shakespeare ever did. From the Author's Note, I learned that Catherine Tate and David Tennant starred in a British production of the play that apparently surpasses the 1993 Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson and the 2012 Joss Whedon movies. So I thank the author for pointing me towards a previously unknown version of one of the Bard's best.