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Shakespeare at Traquair is now in its 19th year and the community theatre group continues to grow in popularity year on year.
Gaining capacity audiences and 4 star reviews from the likes of The Scotsman, Shakespeare at Traquair brings a freshness and integrity to every production it presents.
This year David Bon takes on The Comedy of Errors in his directorial debut and he is left in no doubt about the challenge before him.
“Last year I performed in King Lear and this years play has been on my mind since then. We held open auditions in January casting previous actors familiar to us and we have some new faces too, which is always fantastic.”
Each production has a cast of adults and children ably supported by volunteers in costume, graphics, backstage management sets and props, music, marketing, make-up and front of house, often more than 100 people are directly involved in bringing a play to the paying public.
David explains “This years play is a comedy farce with two sets of twins and interestingly is the only Shakespeare play set in real time. We will have an original music score, performed live. I hope everyone involved cast, crew and audiences will enjoy coming to Traquair and experiencing Shakespeare in the open air, against the beautiful backdrop of the oldest inhabited house in Scotland.”
For those of you who maybe interested in venturing to Traquair here is a brief overview of The Comedy of Errors.
Many years before our play takes place, the merchant Aegeon, his wife Aemilia, their twin sons and their identical twin servants are shipwrecked at sea. And this year, just to make things even more confusing, Shakespeare in his wisdom – and for reasons he chooses not to explain – decides to give each set of twins a single name!
The only one of Shakespeare’s plays to conform to the classical unity of time and space, all of the action takes place in the port of Ephesus (in modern day Turkey) over the space of one
David Bon, Matt Davies and Joe Dube performing in King Lear. Visit us online at
www.peebleslife.com
day. The merchant Aegeon has risked his life to enter the port – sworn enemy of his city Syracuse – to search for his lost family. Captured and condemned to death unless he can raise an unrealistic ransom, there seems little hope that his fate can be averted. That is until we realise that both of his sons – unaware of him and each other – are also in the city.
A series of hilarious consequences ensue as the two masters (named Antipholus) and two servants (named Dromio) are mistaken for and by each other. It seems that no-one – wives, girlfriends, friends or each other – can recognise who is who. For our twins disorientation and danger seem to lurk around every corner in Ephesus and suspicions of witchcraft and madness abound. All the while the death sentence remains over their father and the question is will these ‘Errors’ be resolved before it is too late?
The production runs for eight performances from Wednesday 28th May to Saturday 31st May and Wednesday 4th June to Saturday 7th June. Tickets are available from The Eastgate Theatre in Peebles tel 01721 725777 or go online www.
eastgatearts.com.
You can also keep up with this years happenings at
www.shakespeare-at-traquair.co.uk.
Please remember this is an outdoor promenade performance and audience members should come appropriately dressed for the Scottish summer!
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