The Comedy of Errors: Tues 22, Thur 24 & Sat 26 February. Richard III: Wed 23 & Fri 25 February 7.30pm / Thu 24 & 26 February 2.00pm. Read more …
Propeller’s production of Richard III promises to create a ‘diabolical adventure’, taking Hammer Horror and Grand Guignol as its inspirations. Macabre beauty and bloody sensuality will be the order of the day as the devilish House of York, led by the machiavellian Richard, takes on the purer-than-pure House of Lancaster in an England riven by civil war. This production will be the sixth and final chapter in Hall’s staging of Shakespeare’s complete Wars of the Roses cycle.
The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s neatest comedies. Following the example of Greek theatre, it is a model of comic plotting and finely balanced construction. Two pairs of twins, each separated from their sibling at birth, leave a perfectly symmetrical trail of confusion behind them when a shipwreck unites them on the same island. Propeller’s production will emphasise the light and the laughter in this intricately comic masterpiece.
What a thrilling, daring pairing this proves. Unified by more than just Michael Pavelka's clever scaffold-based design, these two plays reflect each other like cracked, distorting mirrors.
Both Hall's productions here dwell not on central performances but on a gratuitously vicious world. Three stars for Comedy of Errors/Four stars for Richard III.
Richard III: too many insightful details crammed into this three-hour tour de force to do sufficient justice to here. Comedy of Errors: packed to bursting with sight-gags, sound-gags and a riotously sexy, testosterone-charged devil-may-care.
Comedy of Errors: Edward Hall’s all-male Propeller troupe has a ball and unleashes a fast and funny evening.
Richard III: Propeller makes Shakespeare feel sharp, contemporary and urgent, without skimping on the language or cutting any corners. And for young audiences, I can’t imagine a more exciting introduction to our greatest dramatist.
Dynamically yoked and forcefully performed by Edward Hall's all-male company, these two early plays turn out to complement each other, both in the extremity of their moods and in their preoccupations.
Comedy of Errors: a hugely enjoyable and accessible take on the bard.
Richard III: Richard Clothier turns in a compelling and quite mesmerising performance as Richard. And there are minor directorial details that captivate your attention.
Richard III: This isn’t trendy gimmickry. Hall and his cast of 14 may go hell for leather with such a pop art smorgasbord, but they never lose sight of the play’s inherent seriousness.
Richard III: Despite several playful ideas too many, this production delivers that shuddering poetic climax, with great force.
Comedy of Errors: It's a lightweight play, but a merry and beautifully constructed one; and Hall's production, set in a garish and heavily-policed Mediterranean holiday resort, enjoys every nuance of the comedy, ruthlessly updating its ragbag of cultural and magical references.
Comedy of Errors: It’s funny, with the entire ensemble well-drilled enough to throw in a whole load of live sound effects.
Propeller production of Richard III & The Comedy of Errors
Interview: Ed Hall, director, The Comedy of Errors
On a wing and a prayer
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from Tuesday February 22, 2011, until Saturday February 26, 2011. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/festival
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