Schools to get first encounter with Comedy of Errors

Published: 16 August 2018
Reporter: Steve Orme

RSC directing debut: Alex Thorpe

The Royal Shakespeare Company is to tour The Comedy of Errors to schools and theatres in autumn 2018 as part of its commitment to provide young people with a first experience of Shakespeare.

For more than a decade, the RSC has been taking these First Encounters productions—edited versions of the plays performed using Shakespeare’s original language—on the road into the heart of communities.

Directed and edited by Alex Thorpe and aimed primarily at 7- to 13-year-olds, The Comedy of Errors will feature a gender-split cast of eight actors and actor-musicians.

It will open in October 2018 in Midlands schools and the Swan Theatre in Stratford before going on a tour of schools and regional theatres until 7 December.

Thorpe, who is making his RSC directing debut, said, “the RSC’s First Encounter productions have a long and exciting history of not only giving young audiences their early experiences of Shakespeare and theatre, but also actively involving them in the making of it. This year I’m delighted to be leading a company who will take things a step further.

“This production is being built around its audience and the places we visit. Extending and building on the play’s themes, the professional company of actors and actor-musicians will be joined by ensembles of young performers from across the UK to help tell some of the story.

“Ephesus, the play’s market-town setting, will feel uncannily familiar as local communities work together to complete the stage’s design.”

Jacqui O’Hanlon, RSC director of education, said, “we know that audiences for this work include significant numbers who are new to Shakespeare and to theatre.

“The fact that 20% of returning audiences have had their first encounter with theatre through these tours is testament to the profound impact that partnerships between schools and theatres can have on local communities; partnerships forged out of a shared vision for education in which access to the arts plays a central part.”

The creative team includes designer Amelia Hankin, Eamonn O’Dwyer (music), Simon Pittman (movement), Lisa Connell (fights) and Edie Edmundson (puppetry director).

Locations on the tour include Northampton, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Bishop Auckland, Kent, Hull, York, Bradford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Further details will be updated on the RSC web site as soon as they become available.

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