With a tremendous thunderstorm drowning out a lot of An Isolated Dog's "Jekyll & Hyde, I was not surprised to discover

C Theatre had moved their proposed outdoor version of 'The Comedy Of Errors' indoors. In fact it rained so hard after

our last show, we sheltered in a café at Assembly George Square and I vowed not to venture outside until the downpour

had subsided. Fortunately, it stopped just at the right time so we were able to head to C South as planned.

Having seen previous productions in the gardens, it was nice to enter the neighbouring glorious St Peter's Episcopal

Church. We could tell from a general kerfuffle amongst the performers that something untoward had occurred and it

turns out that due to unforeseen circumstances certain actors were unable to attend this performance and a few hurried

cast changes had to be made.

Those of you who know the plot of 'The Comedy Of Errors' know it revolves around two pairs of identical twins who

happen to have the same names. What are the chances? Tom Huxley- Golden was now charged with the task of playing

both Antipholuses and this 'device' worked well in freshening up what can be a complicated plot. The cast adapted well

to the confines of the church (anyone would think they have done this before) and we are indebted to the entire cast and

director, Kate Stephenson who kept everything ticking along nicely with just the minimum of props. Church acoustics

can be notoriously problematic and generally they coped well. Some speeches were lost when not directly facing the

audience but it least it avoided the pitfalls of the voice mike, a modern device I increasingly detest.

An unexpected bonus came from the delightful harmonious singing of Scottish folksongs with expert musical accompaniment provided by Cameron Banks. Being completely honest the main reason I selected this show was as I fancied an outdoor picnic and was therefore a little disappointed when the Scottish weather prevented this from happening, however it is credit to the company that we all still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

This was our second shot at Shakespeare this week with Tim FitzHigham and Thom Tuck trying to play all the characters in 'Macbeth' in an hour (they failed). To see how C Theatre grappled with one actor playing two parts when they finally appear on stage together, head to C South. If you sit in the front row, take a scarf. DARKCHATTER Thuranie is glad she did.

Great fun!

Shakespeare in the Garden is at C Venues - C South until August 26th (not 13th)

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/shakespeare-in-the-garden-the-comedy-of-errors