"The Comedy Of Errors" by The Nottingham Shakespeare Company

St Mary's Church, Lace Market, Nottingham.

One of Shakespeare's great comedies as well as one of his shortest of plays as well. Plus, all performances are free, but feel free to drop something in one of their buckets at the end to show your appreciation. Anyway, on with the show.....

"The Comedy Of Errors" is the story of two sets of identical twins. Aegeon, the father of one pair bought the other pair from another couple as the other couple could not afford their twins, along with the Mother Aemelia. While travelling on a ship, a storm had been expected but never came, even so all the crew abandoned the ship in panic leaving the two parents, with the twins tied to the mast, the ship sank and the two twins and Aegeon and Aemelia were separated at sea.

Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse grew up and Antipholous wanted to find his brother, so they 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 family of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on hilarious misunderstandings and mistaken identities ensue.

It's an ideal play to introduce, not only kids, but anyone to Shakespeare who may think that the Bard is not for them and is too difficult to comprehend.

When Shakespeare wrote many of his plays, they were written to be performed in the open air, mainly because the theatres were not as available as they are today, so he wrote them as a street performance. Taking theatre into the open is returning Shakespeare to his origins, and when the weather is as good as it is at the moment, it adds to the enjoyment.

The production is Directed by Michelle-Louise Wright and Produced by Rachel Pillsbury.

It's very difficult to pinpoint one performance over another, or character, as all involved were on top form.

Michelle - Louis Wright plays Aemelia. The rate at which this play was performed was breathtakingly good, with one set of actors leaving the performance area and the next set straight on form the opposite side; no waiting around at all. The play has been reduced in size but still lasts about 85 minutes without an interval, which I don't think you need anyway with this because the story flows so well. When performed in full, the events unfold in real time, or there about.

Jen Harrison is playing Angelo and Dr. Pinch, as well as the Courtezan, due to Cat Prescott being struck down with Covid ( a speedy recovery is hopefully on the cards for Cat). This makes Jen's roles quite quick changing in some scenes, but there is no hindrance in this for Jen. Jen's Pinch was almost like a Shakespearian version of Elvis Presley, which brought a smile to my face.

Kate Lewis (Luciana - Adriana's sister - and the First Merchant), Reece George Soar (Second Merchant), Emma Carlton (Adriana), David Watts (Duke Solinus, Balthazar and The Officer) and Conor Lynam (Aegeon).

The scene where Adriana and Antipholus of Syracuse are first thrown together is great fun and reminded me slightly of one of those scenes from an old silent movie with their animated behaviour.

Christopher Collins, who is also the Assistant Director, is playing Antipholus of Syracuse and James Kaye is playing Antipholus of Ephesus. There is a great amount of comedy in this play and a fair chunk is delivered by these two characters, as well as the situations that they provoke throughout. For anyone who has enjoyed "A Servant Of Two Masters", you'll really enjoy this as the situation that ensues is similar - just in case you didn't know either play!

I must also mention that the stage slaps were timed really well, making you believe that Antipholous did actually make contact with Dromio. There's nothing worse than a slap that does not look to have connected due to timing, or no sound from a slap for taking away the realism from a play. Real attention and work has gone into perfecting the stage combat here.

Alastair Fiori-mcphee is playing Dromio of Syracuse and Mark Townley is playing Dromio of Ephesus. I really had to look twice at these two actors because the similarities between them both almost got me thinking that just one actor was being used for both roles. I knew that this could not really be the case but it did make me think - a wonderful casting decision to use Alistair and Mark.

Not only do they look alike but they have perfected the same Dromio mannerisms and the mirroring is crazily good. Both actors have also, quite literally, thrown themselves into the slapstick side of the pair of Dromios, also creating some brilliant comic moments.

You may think that, being performed outside that you may lose some of the script, but not the case. I wasn't sat near the front and I heard every single word due to the wonderful projection from every one of the actors. Shakespeare's words are very important, especially in comedy, as he really does have some brilliant one-liners, as well as his build up to a comic line. Another reason why timing and rhythm is so important in his plays.

I had the pleasure of seeing their open-air performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a few years ago, and said that when the Nottingham Shakespeare Company appear again, I'll be there again. It's been a long wait for me but it was well worth it for this classic production.

The play was really well received by the quite large gathering who seemed to have treated it as a proper evening out. Blankets, picnics, chairs, wine, nibbles, groups of friends, children, as well as a very well-behaved dog, created a lovely atmosphere in the grounds of St Mary's Church, which also tied in well with the scenes of the Abbey and the Abbess, Aemelia.

So, get together with a few like-minded friends, pack up a picnic and a couple of bottles of something fizzy, and head to one of the below locations. If for some strange reason, you don't like what you see, you can always pack up and leave, and it's cost you nothing. Somehow though I don't think you'll want to leave until the end.

You can see "The Comedy Of Errors" by The Nottingham Shakespeare Company at the below venues and times.

15th July 7pm – The Roundhouse, Royal Standard Place

16th July Midday – Sneinton Market

16th July 5pm – Ruddington Green

22nd July 7pm – St John’s Churchyard, Carrington

23rd July 2pm & 7pm – Victoria Embankment Bandstand