Theatre Royal, Winchester
18th & 19th April 1980
And at theNuffield Theatre
21st to 26th April 1980
To commemerate Shakespeare's birthday a special performance of an anthology "No Holds Bard" was given as a late night show AFTER the performance of "A Comedy of Errors" on the evening of Wednesday 23rdApril. It was directed by Ken Spencer. There is no record of who the readers were.
The Players | |
Solinus | Douglas Coates |
Egeon, A merchant of Syracuse | David Pike |
Emelia, Lady Abbess and Egeon's wife | Mollie Manns |
Antipholus of Ephesus Antipholus of Syracuse (twin brothers, sons of Emelia and Egeon) |
Jim Smith John Appleton |
Dromio of Ephesus Dromio of Syracuse (twin brothers, bondsmen to the Antipholus twins) |
Pete White Brian Stansbridge |
Adriana, Wife of Antipholus of Ephesus | Jenny McConnell |
Luciana, her sister | Belinda Drew |
Nell, Adriana's kitchen maid | Chris Baker |
Balthazar, a merchant | Tony Lawther |
Angelo, a goldsmith | Derek Sealy |
Doctor Pinch | Ken Spencer |
First Merchant | Geoff Wharam |
Second Merchant | Brian Whitaker |
An Officer | Ken Hann |
A Courtesan | Avril Woodward |
A Messenger | Lawrence Till |
Gaoler | Tony Lawther |
Acolytes | Meri Lawther, Janet Courtice |
For the Maskers: | |
The Director | Graham Buchanan |
Stage Manager | Keith Hooper |
Lighting | Joy Wingfield, Ivan White |
Sound | Ron Tillyer |
Properties | Shiela Clark |
Wardrobe | Lillian Gunstone, Chris Baker, Ann Brookes, Audrey Whitaker |
Set construction and painting | Alan Baker, John Riggs, John Doherty, Ken Spencer, Julia Patterson |
Publicity | Gill Roberts |
The Southampton Echo said:
The modern farce has nothing on Shakespeare. His "Comedy of Errors" is jam-packed with wit and cracks, most of them just as funny now as they were four centuries ago. The Maskers manage commendably to bring out the best of this situation comedy in their performance at the Nuffield Theatre this week. They strur and fret about the stage, throwing themselves from quip to crack, and whipping themselves to a frenzy in the tortuous series of events.
The basis of the plot is that twin brothers and twin servants are accidentally separated at birth. The action takes place 33 years later when, again by accident, they are reunited. The stuff of the play is the jumble of mistaken identities that thereby arise, totally implausible but perfect material for the comic actor. The two Dromios, twin servants, control the comedy best as two Shakespearian fools and the amazing physical resemblance of Pete White and Brian Stansbridge fooled me more than once.
Graham Buchanan's production is a highly polished and pleasing one. A special word of praise should go to the designers of the masks (Ann Archer and Belinda Drew), and of the stage clock (Ken Spencer).
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