The Comedy of Errors (more or less) at Shakespeare North Playhouse
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Shakespeare North Playhouse is pleased to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s First Folio with a lively new adaptation of The Comedy of Errors (more or less), a co-production with the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
The First Folio is the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Collated and assembled in 1623, seven years after his death, the First Folio is hugely important – as without it, many of Shakespeare’s most celebrated works would never have survived. Now, four centuries on from its publishing, Shakespeare North Playhouse celebrates the First Folio by bringing a new translation of Shakespeare’s most revered farce, The Comedy of Errors to the stage.
The perfect blend of mistaken identity and theatrical slapstick alongside some banging musical numbers.
Taking place in the 1980s – an era of big hair, huge phones and even larger shoulder pads – The Comedy of Errors (more or less) promises the perfect Shakespearean blend of mistaken identity and theatrical slapstick alongside some banging musical numbers.
Take one bonkers day at the coast, two rival states and two sets of mismatched twins and you have the basis of Shakespeare North’s production of Comedy of Errors.
When an actor from Lancashire arrives in a Yorkshire seaside town to perform his ‘magnificent’ one-man show, he is without an audience – as everybody has already booked tickets to watch a Talent Show across town starring the twin brother he has never met. Meanwhile, over on the other side, his twin brother is banking on winning the talent show to pay off all his debts and buy his wife the gold chain he promised her…
Packed with twists and turns, chaos and anarchy.
Packed with twists and turns, chaos and anarchy, the narrative plays out: will the twins ever discover each other? Will they find out how they became separated? And more importantly, will either of their shows make it to the stage?
Following the run at Shakespeare North Playhouse, Comedy of Errors (more or less) plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough from 30 March to 15 April 2023.
