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THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

By William Shakespeare

Thursday, 1st March  2012

I in earth, in heaven, or in hell?
Sleeping or waking? mad or well advised?
Known unto these, and to myself disguised!

Two sets of twins separated at birth collide in the same city without meeting for one crazy day, as multiple mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale.  And for no one more so than Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio who, in search of their brothers, arrive in a land entirely foreign to their distant home.  A buzzing metropolis, to the outsiders it appears a place of wonderment and terror, where baffling gifts and unexplained hostilities abound.

Do you know me, sir? Am I Dromio?
Am I your man? Am I myself?

Consistently recognised by strangers, the visitors question their very selves as the turmoil escalates. Meanwhile, Aegeon, father to the Antipholus twins, has been captured searching for his sons and, as an illegal immigrant, is sentenced to death at sunset.  Shakespeare’s furiously paced comedy will be staged in a contemporary world into which walk three prohibited foreigners who see everything for the first time.  Lenny Henry plays Antipholus of Syracuse.

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER

By Oliver Goldsmith

Thursday, 29th March 2012

Running Time:  3 hours (estimate) including host introduction and one 20 minute intermission

To come to my house, to call for what he likes, toturn me out of my own chair, to insult the family, to order his servants to get drunk, and then to tell me, “This house is mine, sir”. By all that’s impudent it makes me laugh.

Hardcastle, a man of substance, looks forward to acquainting his daughter with his old pal’s son with a view to marriage. But thanks to playboy Lumpkin, he’s mistaken by his prospective son-in-law Marlow for an innkeeper, his daughter for the local barmaid. The good news is, while Marlow can barely speak to a woman of quality he’s a charmer with those of a different stamp. And so, as Hardcastle’s indignation intensifies, Miss Hardcastle’s appreciation for her misguided suitor soars. Misdemeanours multiply, love blossoms, mayhem ensues.

This little barmaid though runs in my head most strangely, and drives out the absurdities of all therest of the family. She’s mine, she must be mine, or I’m greatly mistaken.

One of the great, generous-hearted and ingenious comedies of the English language, Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer offers a celebration of chaos, courtship and the dysfunctional family.