It’s Shakespeare, but not as you know it
It’s been 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare and to celebrate his work, Hamilton Playbox will present an ‘‘outrageous’’ version of The Comedy of Errors.
Telling the story of two sets of identical twins accidentally separated at birth, the show spins through a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identity.
A wrongful beating, a near seduction, the arrest of one of the brothers and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness and demonic possession, are a few of the themes involved.
The play stars Viola Ember, Fiona Sinclair, Steven Gray, Lily Gladstone-Gallagher and Nathan Hancock, who say it’s a very contemporary version of the classic.
‘‘It’s Shakespeare but not as your folks did it.’’
Gray, who plays Doctor Pinch, said the predominantly young cast were able to make sense of ‘‘the gobbledegook’’ that was the old English language.
‘‘The older actors are learning from the younger ones and the younger ones are learning from the older ones.’’
‘‘Everyone’s on an equal playing field. We’ve explored the language to give it modern relevance,’’ Hancock said.
Directed and designed by Dennis Ralph, the stage is set out in traverse, which brings with it difficulties and advantages.
The actors have practised projecting their voices and blocking scenes so that each action is visible to both sides of the audience.
With it, the traverse style makes for a more intimate setting and allows the cast to use the audience for effect.
Set in a modern Greek summer resort which has been deluged with refugees, Ralph said the play was relevant to current world issues.
‘‘So often they update Shakespeare and there’s no relevance or rhyme to it,’’ Gray said.
‘‘Let’s do it actually right now.’’
Ralph is a lifetime member of Hamilton Playbox and said he hopes the audience will be rocking and laughing in their seats.
The play will be the happiest Shakespeare ever performed, he said.
The Comedy of Errors promises to be an interactive experience for the audience and is running at Riverlea Theatre from October 8 to October 22. Tickets are available from iTicket and there are matinee options.