Theatre - Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is surely Shakespeare’s silliest play; big on slapstick and coincidence, short on the sort of acute characterisation and knowledge of the human predicament that drove Shakespeare’s later comedies. This makes it ideal material for getting literary neophytes to appreciate our greatest poet. Which is what Oddsocks, a theatre troupe that has made its reputation simplifying Shakespeare’s work, are all about, basically. This is not to disparage a group that The Stage Magazine calls ‘multi-talented’ and ‘gloriously droll’. They claim to perform Shakespearian early comedy in the manner it was originally intended: with a high bawdiness and farce quotient, in other words.

But the company (who’ve been touring extensively for eight years, mainly al fresco, mainly in the summer months) also enjoys more than a smattering of literary-minded fans in its audiences. And to intellectually treat those whose humour extends beyond plank-in-the-head type jokes they throw further complications into a plot that is already pretty complicated. TCOE is all about two sets of identical twins separated shortly after their birth, and the chaos that arises when their doppelgangers unexpectedly arrive in town. Oddsocks add an extra element: a Shakespearian troupe acting out The Comedy of Errors while the action goes on around them. A play of the play within the play, in effect. Clever. AL