'Comedy of Errors' End of Year Showcase
Students perform 'Comedy of Errors' at End of Year Showcase
Students are delighted to bring live theatre back to the stage with their Performing Arts End of Year Showcase to be held at the end of May.
This year’s Showcase will be a melting pot of creative talent with 40 students from across QMU’s creative industries courses contributing to a performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Comedy of Errors’.
Students from Drama, Drama & Performance, Acting, Costume Design and Construction, Theatre and Film, and Film and Media degree courses will all be involved with the Showcase, which will be staged at the Assembly Roxy, Roxburgh Place in Edinburgh from 27th – 29th May.
Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare’s most farcical comedies. In its classic form, it involved two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth, leading to a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities. However, QMU drama lecturer and director, Kate Nelson’s surrealist version literarily turns the play on its head – the sky becomes the floor and vice versa, girls and boys dress as their opposite gender, and four sets of twins create a series of hysterical scenarios resulting in multiple identity confusion. So, there is plenty to get the old grey matter working, and audiences can expect lots of fun and laughter, as well as great acting, stunning costumes and wonderful live music throughout.
Paula Cooney, Student Producer and Marketing Manager of this year’s QMU End of Year Showcase, said: “After such a challenging two years, the students are so excited to be working together across all the year groups and performing arts specialisms to bring this much-loved Shakespearean comedy to a live audience. It is wonderful to have this opportunity to put our theory into practice and perform on the Roxy’s big stage to an enthusiastic audience.”
QMU’s Showcase provides a wonderful platform to share the range of creativity that is present across the different student disciplines. The audience is sure to delight in a spectacle of beautifully crafted costumes designed and created by our BA (Hons) Costume Design and Construction students. This year, a band will be on stage throughout the entire performance, with musical direction from student Danny Menzies, and lighting and sound by Edinburgh Lighting and Sound graduates.
Kate Nelson, award winning director, producer and QMU drama lecturer, explained: “This is an exciting moment after a tough two years. Our production forms a part of the celebration of the 50-year anniversary of Drama and Performing Arts at Queen Margaret University. This is the first time we have been able to put on a live show since 2019 involving students from across our programmes. The Performing Arts group at QMU is a family and this collaboration forms a special part of our year bringing students together from first to fourth year.”
Performances will take place on Friday 27th, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th May from 7.30pm – 9.30pm at the Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place in Edinburgh, EH8 9SU.
Tickets are soon to be available from the Assembly Roxy box office priced at £10 each. For updates on the play and ticket sales follow us @theatreinthegarden22 on Instagram.
To view a range of inspiring graduate stories from QMU’s 50 Years of Drama and Performing Arts visit 50 Years of Drama webpages and listen to our first ever alumni podcast series 'Going Off Script With… at Spreaker.
Notes to Editor
For further media information contact Lynne Russell, Communications Manager, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, EH21 6UU: E: lrussell@qmu.ac.uk; M: 07711 011239.
