16 – 18 September

One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, The Comedy of Errors is probably the one where he commits most to farce and wordplay. It’s short and quite silly, centering on the idea of two sets of identical twins (both a master and his servant) who were separated many years ago, and what happens when they end up in the city of Ephesus again.

Mistaken identity drives the plot, wherein Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse confuse not only one another, but a whole host of folks that know (or don’t know) them, including the Syracusan Antipholus’s wife. You can imagine the hijinks. Although it should be noted, Shakespeare avoids anything too icky occurring as a result of the mix up, as opposed to some mistaken identity shows where you’re left concerned about consent.

Paperback Theatre, a Birmingham based theatre company, produces a show each year for a series of performances across Little but LIVE! Festival in Moseley Park. This year that show is A Comedy of Errors.

The cast took a little while to warm up (as did we all – the weather’s turning!), but by the performance’s close all were comfortable and in their rhythm. In an outdoor space it’s easy to lose lines, and this happened at the top of the show quite a bit.

In the final scene, seeing them switch between their many characters demonstrated how hard they’d worked in the last hour. Only 4 performers delivering a show with at least 4 times as many characters is impressive stuff.

While each actor had their moment to shine – and I mean that genuinely, there was no weaker link here – special mention should go to the Dromios for the comedy. Kids and big kids alike were cracking up.

This is a good way to pass an hour on a September afternoon, with a cast who are game for it and responsive, an excellently handled piece of audience interaction, and a set design that feels crafty but not cheap.

★★★☆☆ Will Amott, 17th September, 2022

Photo credit: Alexander Webster