Pendley Shakespeare Festival brings in 2020 with its 71 st year by pairing a modern twist on a great Roman tragedy with one of the Bard’s most entertaining comedies.
The Comedy of Errors (5th – 9th August)
“Until I know this sure uncertainty, I’ll entertain the offered fallacy.”
Two sets of twins, two sets of mistaken identity. One of Shakespeare’s most confusing and farcical comedies is set in a world of chance, luck, and roulette tables.
Interview with Steph Fuller – Comedy of Errors Director
Why is this play relevant to a contemporary audience?
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest and smartest play. It’s farcical, full of deep fakes, false information and confusion. Much like the world today!
Shakespeare had a way of looking at society and the way we live together. When the play was written in 1594, London was just as multicultural as it is
today, with Huguenots and Flemish refugees as well as growing Jewish and black communities. The Comedy of Errors is about an illegal immigrant,
searching for his family in a new world where cultures and commerce are the name of the game, it feels very contemporary.
What will the world of your production allow you to unlock within the text?
In Shakespeare’s time, the city of Ephesus was known as a wild, anarchic, lawless place where anything goes! This version of The Comedy of Errors will be set in a Las Vegas-style casino and it will do what all good casinos do; trade in cash. It’s a place where people buy money to make money. Most of the comedy in this play comes from mistaken identity and a sense of confusion. The vibrant, trashy, glitzy, costumed, non-stop party vibe of a casino makes it a place where the concept of losing your sense of self is not that difficult to believe.
What design ideas are currently emerging?
Think giant pink dice, bright lights, glitz and glamour! All the madness of a casino complete with drag acts, impersonators, visors and croupiers.
What type of actors are you looking for from a casting perspective?
We’re looking for actors with bags of energy, a keen eye for comic timing and those willing to clown around. I work in a collaborative way, so I need actors who are intuitive and flexible. There will be a few movement sequences in this production, so the ability to pick up movement quickly will also be helpful!
Describe your production in three words:
Flashy
Swirling
Lawless
Coriolanus (12 th – 16 th August)
“More of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians.”
Welcome to our Thatcherite state, where this fearless leader has to decide where their allegiance lies. With the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer, which side will you support in our modern day setting of this classic Roman tale?
Interview with Douglas Baker - Coriolanus Director
Why is this play relevant to a contemporary audience?
Our world seems to be in a flux of constant crises. Sometimes averted, perpetually ongoing and often calamitous. This is the state of the world Caius Martius finds herself in. Its not difficult to see the parallels of domestic strife coupled with a disturbingly patriotic cry for action often at the expenses of the less fortunate.
What will the world of your production allow you to unlock within the text?
Setting the piece in the halls of power in (relatively) contemporary Westminster will immediately allow us to look at our own time and by casting Caius Martius as a strong iron-willed female leader in a man’s world we will see our own struggle for survival in the reframed in a modern context.
What design ideas are currently emerging?
The initial idea is to set it in the Houses of Parliament. This gives us a lot of opportunities because the sense of ceremony and context is very familiar to us. The fascinating part is going to be balancing the sense of interior/exterior with a fully outdoor show!
What type of actors are you looking for from a casting perspective?
Actors who are generous and don’t get too bogged down in ‘truth’ - just willing to throw themselves in and have a go. They are willing to do odd things, because there’s lots of crazy hijinks in this production. Actors who can switch between roles quickly and with enthusiasm. Kindness and respect are also the bottom line.
Describe your production in three words:
Loud
Chaotic
Turbulent
So, we invite you to two weeks of Shakespeare under the summer stars, in our new roaring 20s decade.