Rye date as show explores enduring popularity of Shakespeare's comedies

Spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said: “Yellow stockings? Ass ears? Masks? Insults? Clown paint? Cakes and Ale? What is it about Shakespeare’s comedies that makes them so popular even 400 years after they were written? Following the success of the one man show Why Will? in 2021, by popular demand, Bowler Crab's artistic director returns to the format, this time exploring Shakespeare's comedies ... all of them!

“Twenty speeches and scenes from all fourteen of Shakespeare’s Folio Comedies are performed at the 600-year-old Mermaid Inn, Rye, inside The Tudor Bar, all the while exploring the importance of Shakespeare. A love of laughter and literature encase this charismatic and personal performance as Stephen fights, feasts, frights, fakes and falls about laughing in every effort to share his passion for Shakespeare.”

Artistic director Stephen John said: “Shakespeare’s Comedies do more than make us laugh, they spark within us an integral interest in the state of the human condition and that’s one hell of a feat, considering the genre of these plays – they are just Comedies after all. We might expect something grittier from Shakespeare’s History or his Tragedies, perhaps something more serious to emotionally tether us to the stories, the characters, the messages within those types of play; but it’s often Shakespeare’s comedies that sneak in these subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) messages about the everyday walks of life. From philosophy, psychology, spirituality, religion, love, war, gender politics – the comedies have it all and what blows my mind is that, even now, 400 years later, we still quote Shakespeare’s works as the ultimate expression of what it is to be human. It’s my last show of a very busy season; this year Bowler Crab tackled plays new to us and old familiars alike and it’s been an incredible experience to round off Season Ten with this bouncy show that both shakes you with laughter and makes you think all at the same time.”

Bowler Crab became the official resident theatre company of The Mermaid Inn in 2017. The Rye based 600-year-old inn (known for having Shakespeare’s company visit them in 1597) today hosts Bowler Crab’s shows year-round.

Tickets are available online https://www.bowler-crab.com/shakespeareandcomedy or by calling: 07801 893115.