Dr Peter Kirwan

Tag: The Comedy of Errors

  • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] (Again) (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars Playhouse

    The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] (Again) (American Shakespeare Center) @ The Blackfriars Playhouse

    Every now and again, I’ve been lucky to see a revival of an existing play that makes that play feel freshly written, as if designed for that company and that moment. The reworking of Death of a Salesman for an African American family; Theatre Wallay’s reworking of The Taming of the Shrew as a commentary…

  • The Comedy of Errors (RSC) @ The Lydia & Manfred Gordy Garden Theatre

    The Comedy of Errors (RSC) @ The Lydia & Manfred Gordy Garden Theatre

    ‘Capitalism!’ crooned the four-strong Chorus who provided an acapella doo-wop score for Phillip Breen’s Comedy of Errors. Errors isn’t a play which demands a subtle approach, and the singers identifying the core interpretive ethos of this production offered a nice punchline, as on-the-nose as the punches that repeatedly landed on both Dromios’ faces. In a play which traces the exchanges (successful…

  • The Comedy of Errors (Pendley Shakespeare Festival) @ Pendley Manor

    The Comedy of Errors (Pendley Shakespeare Festival) @ Pendley Manor

    The Pendley Shakespeare Festival is one of the grandest exemplars of the British tradition for summer amateur Shakespeare performed outdoors. Now in its sixty-fifth year, the Festival boasts an extraordinarily beautiful setting in the grounds of a 4* hotel that also plays host to a flock of peacocks, covered seating stands for some 400 audience members, and…

  • The Comedy of Errors (Fine Frenzy/New Theatre) @ Nottingham New Theatre

    The Comedy of Errors (Fine Frenzy/New Theatre) @ Nottingham New Theatre

    The privilege of student theatre is the freedom to experiment. Nottingham’s New Theatre, the only completely student-run theatre in the UK (and, coincidentally, the only theatre I can get to within two minutes of leaving my office) has one of the most extensive and wide-ranging programmes of classic and new writing around, and the sheer number…

  • The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre) digital programme

    When I attended the live screening of The Comedy of Errors last week, I was disappointed to find that only free cast lists were available in the foyer – there was not the opportunity to buy a physical programme, as available in the theatre. However, I realised yesterday that the National is advertising digital programmes to accompany…

  • The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre) @ The Olivier Theatre, via NT Live

    The NT Live juggernaut rolls on. Now well-established as a theatrical/cinematic event, it was a pleasure to see the enormous Screen 1 of Nottingham’s Broadway cinema packed out with a lively audience for the latest offering, a broadcast of Dominic Cooke’s hugely successful The Comedy of Errors, which I missed in London. Even more of a pleasure was…

  • The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory) @ The Tobacco Factory

    The Comedy of Errors is one of those few plays that fail to disappoint onstage. It’s inherently funny, fast, short and complex, and it’s hard to remove the basic entertainment value from it. However, the slew of Comedies I’ve seen over the last few years have shared what is, perhaps, a surprising feature – they’ve been extremely cruel.…

  • The Comedy of Errors (Propeller) @ The Belgrade Theatre

    A roar of dissent rose in the foyer of the Belgrade Theatre during the interval of last night’s Comedy of Errors, as the tannoy politely requested that audience members resume their seats for the second half. The roar came, however, not from reluctant audiences, but from the theatre company themselves. The men of Propeller had followed…

  • The Comedy of Errors (RSC Young People’s Shakespeare) @ The Courtyard Theatre

    Since the launch of the “Stand Up For Shakespeare” manifesto a couple of years ago, the RSC has been remarkably tenacious in promoting its educational work alongside its core productions. While always an important part of the company’s remit, the Education Department has recently stepped confidently into the limelight, with events such as the Regional Schools’…

  • Before The Bardathon

    As we enter the final week of my year-long project, I’m going to be posting a few retrospective entries in addition to the final couple of reviews. First up, I thought for interest I’d mention my PREVIOUS Shakespeare theatre-going. I haven’t been attending the theatre as long as many people think. Being a Northerner born-and-bred, and not…