Fredericton outdoor theatre company to feature The Comedy of Errors and Richard III, June 22 – July 9, 2017.
Bard in the Barracks will celebrate Canada 150 this summer by mounting its most ambitious season to date. The company, which stages outdoor productions of the works of William Shakespeare in downtown Fredericton, will for the first time perform two entirely new productions, set to run June 22 – July 9 over the three weeks surrounding the Canada Day long weekend.
The two plays to be staged, both among Shakespeare’s best-known, will offer audiences stark differences in terms of genre, performance style, and location, with one work staged in the company’s original home of Barracks Square, and the other in Odell Park, where most of its recent plays have been performed.
This year’s performances will begin with The Comedy of Errors, to be staged in Barracks Square from June 22-29. A high-spirited, farcical comedy, the play depicts the chaos that results when two pairs of long-separated identical twins unknowingly find themselves in the same city and cases of mistaken identity spiral out of control, threatening dangerous consequences.
“This play is almost tailor made to run in Barracks Square,” said Bard in the Barracks’ director Len Falkenstein. “The play takes place on a street with different storefronts not unlike the casemates found at the Barracks.”
Due to construction planned for the summer, the art vendors and pop-up boutiques usually located in the Barracks area will not be operating this season. Falkenstein’s decision to stage The Comedy of Errors was based largely on the understanding that he and the company could incorporate the building’s makeshift street front into their work.
“This year’s construction will allow us the opportunity to try a new use of the space and one we wouldn’t have the chance to try otherwise,” he said.
The Comedy of Errors will be followed by the dark tragedy of Richard III, set to run June 30-July 9 in Odell Park. The story of the infamous late medieval English king whose skill at treachery and murder propelled him briefly and uneasily to the throne will be staged in Bard in the Barracks’ trademark promenade style, which sees the audience follow the action between different locations in the park.
“This is another play I’ve been wanting to do for some time,” said Falkenstien. “Maybe the time is right to stage a play about a unscrupulous politician who connives his way to power?”
Full details regarding performances and tickets will be available later in the spring on the company’s website at www.bardinthebarracks.com
