Sardis Secondary is putting a modern and very unique twist on a Shakespeare piece for its next production.
The musical theatre department presents The Comedy of Errors for six performances from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7 at the school.
“It’s ‘80s club kid meets wild west urban cowboy,” said teacher Alison Guy.
It was she who adapted the five-act comedy, which was written in 1589-1594 and first published in William Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623. Guy admits it was very difficult to “slash and burn” the script down to what the high school actors will be presenting.
The play is about identical twin brothers born to a very poor couple, who were then adopted and became accidentally separated.
Years later, when they are grown, one twin arrives in the city of Ephesus, which happens to be where his twin brother lives, but neither brother knows the other one exists.
Throughout the story, wild mishaps, false accusations and wrongful arrests occur based on mistaken identities.
This is the first time the theatre department has tackled a Shakespeare play. The University of the Fraser Valley used to present Shakespeare regularly and they did "such a beautiful job" which is why Sardis never took it on until now, Guy said.
Typically the school does a musical, but unfortunately the music department was unavailable so they made some adjustments.
“It’s a jukebox. We’ve added just a little bit of music… a couple of pieces of known country songs, but we’re also using The Beatles’ In My Life.”
The team consists of about 25 in the cast, plus another 10 crew members.
Sardis Secondary School presents The Comedy of Errors, a Shakespeare adaptation, from Tuesday, Dec. 3 to Saturday, Dec. 7. Show times: 7 p.m. on Dec. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7; and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Tickets are $15 for the evening shows and $10 for the matinee. Tickets available at the school office at 45460 Stevenson Rd. For more, call the school at 604-858-9424.
