POPULAR comedy Shakespeare company – Oddsocks Productions – return to Bromsgrove’s Avoncroft Museum on this Saturday with one of the Bard’s shortest and funniest plays.
The Comedy of Errors takes place in the museum’s grounds at 7.30pm.
In March 2020, Derbyshire based company were about to celebrate 31 years of touring nationally and were planning a three-month long tour.
Then, the pandemic hit and everything was put on hold, the future seemed bleak.
Now, thanks to public donations and support from the government’s Cultural Recovery fund Oddsocks Productions is delighted to be back in business and touring this summer with their postponed production.
Creative producer Elli Mackenzie said: “It’s been a very strange year and whilst we have thankfully remained physically well, our future was rocked at its core as all our income ceased immediately.
“Thanks to our loyal audience, the organisers at the venues we tour to and the financial support we have received via Arts Council England, we are back.
“We have had to adapt to keep going and one of the changes is that I am back in the summer production appearing alongside my husband and Oddsocks director Andy Barrow.
“It has been 20 since we have toured together and I am really looking forward to being back on stage working with him”.
Joining company founders Andy and Elli is Oddsocks regular Joseph Maudsley, who has appeared in many Oddsocks shows since his debut in Julius Caesar in 2012.
He went on to play Ratty in The Wind In The Willows, Little John in The Adventures of Robin Hood and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing before taking a break to tour the US in ‘Potted Potte’” in recent years.
Every year Oddsocks delights audiences with its inspired approach to Shakespeare’s plays and their trademark interactive style. “The Comedy of Errors” with it’s fast-paced slapstick antics and hilarious storyline is perfect for the Oddsocks.
The plot centres on a servant and mistress from far off Syracuse who arrive in Ephesus in search of their long-lost twin siblings.
In no time at all they are trapped in a terrifying chain of chaotic events.
Harangued by hapless husband and a gold-digging gigolo, challenged by a jeweller seeking justice and damned by a demonic doctor, the terrified twosome run headlong into a climactic happy ending which defies all probability. A summer delight not to be missed!
Tickets are £17 for adults, £14 concessions and £11 for children.
Click here to book.
For those who have not seen the company before, click below to see Oddsocks’ Julius Caesar on YouTube.
