Shakespeare in the Gardens 2021

Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors will be performed at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens between 29 January and 26 February.

It will be the twenty-third Shakespeare in the Gardens performance to be held at the Botanical Gardens.

The actors were cast in October 2020, and rehearsals began in earnest.

“The cast have worked very well together exploring the script and the characters,” said producer Ros Peck.

“Hopefully audience members walk away with great memories of having a good laugh in a beautiful location.”

“We are proud to be a regular feature of the Hobart summer calendar,” she continued, “and have enjoyed working our way through the Shakespeare comedies.”

Ros is particularly proud of the role Shakespeare in the Gardens has had in developing the skills and abilities of all those involved.

“Many of the company members have gone on to study acting, backstage, or design,” she explained.

“Some have achieved great success in their chosen field locally, nationally, and internationally.”

According to No Sweat Shakespeare, “The Comedy of Errors is probably the most complex of all Shakespeare’s plays, involving two sets of identical twins with multiple identity confusions.”

It is believed to be one of Shakespeare’s earlier written plays; a comedy about separated family and mistaken identity.

The play begins with Aegeon telling his story from a time 33 years in the past. A merchant of Syracuse, Aegon became the father of twin boys. He named them both Antipholus, and bought another pair of twins, both named Dromio, to be their servants.

A shipwreck separates the family, and thus begins the long quest to find the missing brothers. Along the way there are many complications including a war, a death penalty, a suddenly appearing wife, strange familiarity, and much more.

The play is relatively short and lively, with lots of characteristic Shakesperean word-play. And plenty of humour – it is a comedy after all!

To book tickets to the performance, click here.