Bruce Dow Reimagines Shakespeare for A GLASS HIVE AKA THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Toronto Fringe Festival

Don't expect a dusty Shakesepeare airing in Randolph Academy Presents' A GLASS HIVE AKA THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at the 2016 Toronto Fringe Festival. Stratford, Broadway, and Dora Award-winning theatre vet Bruce Dow gives the classic comedy a makeover in his contemporary adaptation, which runs June 29-July 10 in the Annex Theatre.

Having appeared in the Stratford Festival's production of The Comedy of Errors -- Artistic Director Richard Monette's final production before his sudden passing-- director and adaptor Bruce Dow wanted to examine the classic comedy beyond the customary slapstick/boffo-comedy/farce elements. As all Shakespeare comedies begin with a tragic situation, Dow wants to allow that danger to resonate throughout the piece and, through it, to delve further into the existential exploration of self and personal identity. In particular, Dow is inspired by the presence of death and the way the main characters of the twins are confronted by images of themselves in the eyes of others. Dow says, "Reflections of ourselves and our mortality-mirrors and death-are things we seem to ignore in the living of our lives." The title of Dow's adaptation found its focus in a quote from Jean Cocteau: "You have never seen death. Look in a mirror every day and you will see it working like bees in a glass hive."

The cast features a troupe of emerging artists who are all in their final year of training at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts' Triple Threat® College Program. As Dow says, "Emerging artists -- and theatre vets alike --experience the greatest growth and make the deepest artistic discoveries in the Fringe environment, where artists are given the freedom to explore the outer edges (the fringes) of their own work." However, the challenge for all actors confronted by working on a comedy is how to "not play" the comedy. "Humour arises out of the absurdity of life and the absurd situations life presents us," Dow says. "You can't 'play' comedy; you have to play the truth - no matter how absurd the situation."

In A Glass Hive AKA The Comedy of Errors, an impoverished father, weary of searching for his lost twin sons, faces imminent execution unless he can raise an exorbitant fine. Coincidentally, two sets of twins, separated at birth, reappear in the same city on the same day. Anything can happen-and it does.

Randolph Academy Presents A Glass Hive AKA The Comedy of Errors by Bill Shakespeare and Friends, adapted and directed by Bruce Dow.

Featuring: Matthew Barker, Madison Haste, Kat Hindle, Samantha Jamieson, Nathalie Julien, Nicolette Lauzier, Megan McCabe, Faly Mevamanana, Naomi Ngebulana, Taylor Priel, Roberto Sapienza, Sabrina Shallop, Megan Starkman, Trisha Talreja, and April Wong.

Randolph Centre for the Arts -- Annex Theatre, 730 Bathurst Street, Toronto

Performances:

WED June 29 at 6:30 p.m.

SAT July 2 at 12 p.m.

MON July 4 at 5 p.m.

WED July 6 at 11 p.m.

THURS July 7 at 7 p.m.

FRI July 8 at 1:45 p.m.

SUN July 10 at 3:30 p.m.

Please note that there is absolutely no latecomer seating.

Tickets: $12 ($10 + $2 service charge)
If available, at-the-door tickets will be sold at the Annex Theatre starting one hour prior to show time, cash sales only, limit of 4/person
Purchase online: fringetoronto.com
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person: The Festival Box Office in the Fringe Club (behind Honest Ed's) at 581 Bloor St W.

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