A COMEDY OF ERRORS | 25 - 26 March 2022 | Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
A Comedy of Errors
Choreography by Sir David Bintley Music by Matthew Hindson
T
ony and Del of Ibiza and Anthony and Derek of Ramsbottom, two sets of twins born of Spanish holiday romances and separated at birth, find themselves, to the confusion and chaos of all, on the same party island one summer. Identity crises and marital discord ultimately turn to joy and happiness, however, as the twins are reunited with their estranged parents Fernando, Dawn, and Kimberley. Of his collaboration with composer Matthew Hindson, choreographer Sir David Bintley says: “Just as George Gershwin didn’t write jazz, but composed orchestral music during the Jazz Age, so Matthew’s music, whilst displaying all the best qualities of contemporary orchestral composition often reflects the influence of current popular music like disco, metal, techno, and rave. “In searching for a subject which would showcase Matthew’s music to its best advantage, I lighted on Shakespeare’s play The Comedy of Errors, with the idea of updating the story to a presentday Ibiza rather than Shakespeare’s classical Syracuse.” In the 1970’s, sun-starved Brits flock to Spain’s Costa del Sol as cheap flights open up a new world of Mediterranean travel and the
Design by Dick Bird Lighting Design by Aaron Muhl
guarantee of good weather. Disco is king, Abba rules the sound waves, and as with many young women Dawn and Kimberley fall under the spell of the exotic, young locals, the result being a trip to the maternity ward, nine months later, where the girls are each delivered of twin baby boys. Thirty-some years later, the Spanish island of Ibiza is the central destination for Europe’s party-seeking youth, with its all-night raves and boisterous dance scene. It is here that Dawn and Kimberley, still young at heart, vacation with their sons Anthony and Derek. Little do they know that their other sons, Tony and Del, twin brothers of Anthony and Derek, and given up for adoption at birth, are also on the island. What could possibly go wrong?
57