EXIT PRODUCTIONS and the Get Out Your Bard Players give Galway theatregoers another chance to see their hilarious version of Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors next week at The Black Box.
Using the full text of Shakespeare’s shortest play, they manage to bring The Bard into the 21st century in one of the most accessible productions of his work.
The Get Out Your Bard Players are group of well-known Galway-based performance artists (actors, musicians, storytellers, singers, and jugglers ) who have collaborated on this piece since May. With a combination of new theatre practice, stage magic, physical theatre and slapstick comedy, the Players have developed a unique style of theatre storytelling.
The Comedy Of Errors is set in Ephesus, and tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus.
When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession.
Add to this a backdrop of war between Ephesus and Syracuse and you have a hilarious play of illusion, confusion, and comic mayhem. On the same day and in an amazing twist of fate, the Antiphollis’ long-lost father - Aegeon, a Syracusian - also arrives in Ephesus, but being from Syracuse has to pay a ransom of 1,000 ducats or he dies.
The ruling duke grants him until 5 o’clock to find someone in Ephesus to help him pay the money to save him from death.
There is a cast of 17 and the central characters of Antipholus of Ephesus and Syracuse are both played by Paul Lynch and their bondsmen Dromio of Ephesus and Syracuse are both played by Patrick McEneaney. The Antipholii’s father is played by Gerry Ferguson. Adriana is played by Rose Sweeney and Luciana is played by Maggie Kilcoyne.
Patrick McEneaney explains the company’s choice of play.
“Myself and Paul were talking one night and I said I would like to do a Shakespeare and have fun with the language,” Patrick says. “He suggested The Comedy Of Errors but only if we did it ‘the hard way’ which is where we each play a set of twins.
“It was my first time working with Paul but we just seemed to click and things fell into place. The play went really well for us when we first did it, in August, we were very aware that we were doing a comedy and had to make people laugh and people really enjoyed it and laughed a lot and we got good houses as well. We put in huge amount of ideas in show to make it funny. It’s very easy to understand.”
The Comedy of Errors is at the Black Box for two nights only on Wednesday November 25 and Thursday 26 at 8pm. For tickets contact 091 - 569777.
