Billie Joe Armstrong is taking his punk rock back to the Elizabethan era, writing songs for a new version of Much Ado About Nothing. Green Day's frontman will compose original material for a 2014 production by the Yale Repertory Theatre.
Due in March 2014, These Paper Bullets will take Shakespeare's play and reimagine it in modern England. Rolin Jones's adaptation follows a Liverpool rock band as they "find their way in the London music scene", Playbill reported. Given the setting, Armstrong's songs may be more Rubber Soul than Dookie.
The last time Armstrong made music for the stage, a different theatre company brought the singer into their wings. The Berkeley Repertory Theatre worked with the singer on an adaptation of Green Day's hit album American Idiot, premiering the show in 2009. It later moved to Broadway, making almost $40m (£26m). More recently, there were reports that the production would be turned into a Hollywood film.
A few months ago, it seemed hard to imagine that Armstrong's next project would be an adaptation of a Shakespeare play. Green Day cancelled a world tour so that the 41-year-old could be admitted to rehab. Now sober, Armstrong will play his first comeback concert with Green Day on Friday night at SXSW.
• This article was amended on 18 March 2012. The original described Berkeley Repertory Theatre as a university theatre company. This has been corrected.
