The Comedy of Errors

Wednesday night I saw the Comedy of Errors at Wadham College in Oxford. Nicci organized the event for us, so I enjoyed going with my friends. I enjoyed the production as well, but in my opinion it just wasn't up to the standards of the other shows I've been seeing. However, I do have to give it some credit, because one of the characters is named Aemilia.
I thought that the cast leaned too heavily on the use of outrageous costumes and sound effects, instead of simply relying on the humour inherent in Shakespeare's words and the outrageous situations in which the characters find themselves. The most off-putting of these additions was the drawn-out fart jokes. I know that physical humour is important to Shakespeare, and I believe that the actors ought to have some license to act things not explicit in the text, but really, how many fart jokes do you need? One or two might have been funny, but five or six is just annoying.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the show, and the setting was really fun. I enjoy outdoor theatre, and luckily the weather was dry and chilly, just perfect for an outdoor show. If it had rained, I'd probably have stayed home, because I am sick, sick, sick. All the late nights at the theatre are catching up to me, and I have a stuffy nose, a sore throat, and a headache. I've bought some Sudafed, but what I really need is sleep, and I don't see an opportunity of getting much until Saturday. Don't expect any interesting blog posts from this weekend. You can hear about the shows I'm going to on Thursday and Friday nights, but after that I am going to sleep!