April 26, 2011; Source: lohud.com | The Ophelia Project, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization that deals with aggression in relationships, has partnered with the youth literary magazine, Read, published by the Reader’s Digest, to present Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” live on Facebook. The event started yesterday and runs through Thursday.

The organizers of the project have imbedded in the script a message not about noble honor but the negative effect of cyberbullying – a form of youth harassment or humiliation via social media, texting, or other social media.

In the days leading up to the performance, the characters were developed through postings on Facebook and users are being encouraged by the organizers to “like” its narrators and characters including Beatrice and Benedick so viewers get a sense of the action “from a variety of perspectives”.

All in all a cool project with a lot of interesting features.—Ruth McCambridge