Open air theatre: Comedy of Errors in Brockwell Park 11:35am Wednesday 10th June 2009
By Graham Moody
Too often in the modern world Shakespeare is looked at as something only the upper classes can enjoy. Not so says a group of south London actors. For the second year in a row, The Curious Room are putting on one of the bard’s plays on an open air stage in Brockwell Park, one of a series of events happening there over the course of the summer. “The acoustics are much harder than being inside too so everybody has to have experience of open air theatre, but we are all professional actors so we have done it in our training.” Kate SawyerThe Comedy of Errors follows on from last year’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, and producer Kate Sawyer was hopeful of getting Shakespeare to a whole new audience. “A lot of people are surprised that we do it in a park in Brixton,” she says. “But we are of the belief that Shakespeare is accessible to everyone, his work is relevant to everybody no matter where in the world you are. “It’s regarded as high art in this country but it is something that a two-year-old can be involved in and even a person who doesn’t understand English. “It’s not about the language its the play, for example this piece is very physical and has lots of visual comedy. “It is to do with two sets of twins looking the same so even a small child is able to work out what is going on. “We are trying to bring Shakespeare to a space that wouldn’t normally see Shakespeare and to people that might not get to the Royal Shakespeare Company.” The group chose to do Comedy of Errors this year after canvassing audiences last summer asking what they would like to see this time around, and Kate admits that performing open air theatre brings it’s own set of problems. “There are some plays that are more sorted to open air than others,” she says. “Doing a tragedy would not make an exciting evening out, but this is more of a summer play and we have set it in modern day Greece. “The acoustics are much harder than being inside too so everybody has to have experience of open air theatre, but we are all professional actors so we have done it in our training. “We are performing it in the Rounds because it has better acoustics there and it is going to be a raised stage with people sat around which will help.” The Comedy of Errors, Brockwell Hall, Brockwell Park, June 18 to 21 and 24 to 28, various times, £10. Visit thecuriousroom.com.
The Curious Room 