When
we think of a typical Shakespeare play the mind does not generally leap to the
circus. Yet for a week this term the Bushell Hall was filled with bright
costumes, coloured lights and the crack of ringmaster Samih “Duke of Ephesus”
Qaisar’s whip.
Masterfully directed by the acclaimed Mr Smale and featuring an all-star Academy (House Drama) Award winning cast, the play, performed from Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd February, was well received by enraptured audiences on all three occasions. This dramatic feat was made all the more impressive by the enormous age range of the cast. (Between the four main parts alone there was a student from Year Seven (Sam Berkson) and another from Upper 6th (Adam Wells).)
The
play was very much a team performance, with no single character in the play any
more important than the others. Three solid double acts (Nick Gill and Adam
Wells, Sam Berkson and James Green, Charlotte Gollins and Birkenhead High
School’s Lizz Clark) were complemented by equally strong performances from such
individuals as Sam Davies, Oscar Ratnaike and Mike Russell in a hilarious cameo
role as the drunk and incompetent Doctor Pinch.
The main theme of “Comedy of Errors” is confusion brought about by mistaken identity, and this theme was clearly reflected in the performance. Whilst the characters descended further and further into madness and frustration the audience watched with delight and amusement, laughing at the antics of the protagonists and waiting for the inevitable happy ending when the twin Antipholuses (James Green and Adam Wells) and the twin Dromios (Sam Berkson and Nick Gill) were finally united.
Congratulations to all involved! We now await the approaching “Unman, Wittering and Zigo” (to be performed early in the summer term) with great anticipation.
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