THE TALE of two sets of identical twins, separated at birth by a shipwreck but who arrive in the same town at the same time, neither knowing that the others are there is being staged across the Vale this summer.
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest and funniest play sees mayhem follows as everybody is confused when they meet and talk to the one whom they believe to be their ‘friend’.
The wife has ‘dinner’ with the wrong husband, the two servant twins are accused of disobeying their masters, the local jeweller demands payment for a gold chain from the wrong twin, and has him arrested for the debt.
Luckily by the end of the play – not only do they realise what’s gone wrong but they discover …… well, that would be telling!
Young members of Evesham’s The Festival Players, directed by Eric Jones had a strong desire to present this play after their previous ventures into Shakespeare’s words for performance monologue productions last year and in 2016.
They presented Teens Tackle Shakespeare as part of the Evesham Festival of Words last summer in the Almonry garden and An Audience with Words in one of the small performance areas of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre the summer before.
The young people have been rehearsing since January and are well on their way, heading towards four performances in May and June.
Their plan is for a short tour taking in Evesham, Pershore, Broadway and Bidford. Some special scenery has been built, and some hired, costumes are nearly ready, special effects and ‘magic’ is being practised and words learned
“These young people are dedicated and so enthusiastic it is exhausting rehearsing them – at my age!,” Eric said.
“They love it when we invent the physical comedy, alongside the words, and practise the timing of each comic moment again and again until it seems perfect. Only a real audience will prove whether they are right or not.”
“And how did we create two sets of ‘identical’ twins? Well, It is surprising what you can do with four keen young actors who are roughly the same height, then put each pair into two identical wigs, and identical costumes, hats and shoes!”
Eric also tutors some of these students for their LAMDA solo acting exams, and these will have been taken by the end of March; Archie Verhoest and Alex McCullough are taking Grade 7 and Harry Stanley, Connor Hill along with Ben Morris are taking the Bronze Medal, Grade 6.
They have worked hard to present twelve monologues between them for these exams, earning valuable UCAS points towards college applications in due course.
The Comedy of Errors will be at Broadway’s Lifford Hall on Tuesday, May 22 from 7.30pm, at The De Montfort School the following evening at 7.30pm.
After a break for a school trip, the show returns for a performance at Crawford Memorial Hall on Thursday, May 31 at 7.30pm and finally a matinée at Pershore Number 8 Community Arts Centre on Saturday, June 2 at 2pm.
E-mail [email protected] or call Eric on 01386 48788 for more information on tickets which are £8.
