Shakespeare In A Park

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we have a troop here in Canada called ‘A Company of Fools’ and they are preforming here in Ottawa. They are a Shakespeare Company that perform his plays and different takes on his plays, in different venues. The play tonight was “The Comedy of Errors”, of course, by William Shakespeare, but done with a twist. Although the speech was Shakespearean for the most part, the attire and set was Dr. Seuss. I found this a brilliant and entertaining combination that I think more performers presenting Shakespeare should adopt.

The acting in this play was very well done, I have to say, because you never really know what you’re going to get when you go to something like this. They really understood how to grab the audience’s attention and had the Shakespearean down pat. Because they added the Dr. Seuss element they had fantastical costumes, such as: gigantic curling wigs and brightly coloured outfits. There was even a bit of rhyming in there if you really paid attention. Let’s face it, Shakespeare does not always translate well, it is sometimes difficult to understand and finding a way to present it that draws you in and really allows you to understand the story can be challenging. The set was nothing spectacular, just a small wooden stage with a backdrop of a town that looked like it had come straight out of one of Dr. Seuss’ books. You didn’t really notice the lack of props or staging, because of how they performed the play, having larger than life characters and exaggerated gestures and movements, along with the comedic aspect, there was always something going on that made you laugh.

This type of activity has always been a favourite of mine, mainly because I love Shakespeare and it is relatively cheap, they take donations as opposed to actually charging a set price for a ticket. You can give whatever you are able to at the end of the performance.

All-in-all it was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I recommend finding the nearest park to you that they are playing in next and going to see it, you will be entertained.

The company is preforming the play all around Ottawa in different parks until August 15.

If you would like to know more about this company and the performances here in Ottawa here is the link to their website: http://fools.ca/