The plot of A Comedy of Errors more than usually absurd even for a  Shakespeare comedy, involving as it does identical twins (both called   Antipholus) with identical manservants (both called Dromio) who, perhaps fortunately under the circumstances, have been separated at birth. One Antipholus now lives with his Dromio, his wife Adriana and her sister Luciana in Ephesus, whither the other pair have just arrived from Syracuse. Comedic confusion ensues, in this excellent production from The City of Oxford Theatre Guild. With such a scenario the actors are really obliged to play things up; but what impresses most is their consistency and charm. All the main characters (the two sets of twins, and the wife and sister) succeed in keeping the pitch appropriately extravagant without becoming caricatures; and all deliver their dialogue, particularly the rhyming couplets, with rhythm and clarity. Rosie Emmanuel as Adriana is particularly commendable, managing to deliver many of her lines in an increasingly hysterical shriek without becoming irritating or losing the sense (or indeed her voice); while Deborah Morris as her sister garnered more than one laugh with just a deft expression or gesture. The Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, played by Bill Moulford and Stuart Parker respectively, show a real chemistry in their Blackadderesque relationship and retain a believable bewilderment as they stagger through a strange city where everyone seems to know them. The script gives the other pair somewhat less opportunity to shine, but they too give their performances a character that prevented their been lost in the frenzy. The play's set and costume design are attractive and effective, and the choreography is fittingly kinetic with some marvellous slap-stick moments, all the more impressively energetic when you realise that it has already been running for a week. A lively and charming production.

The City of Oxford Theatre Guild, the local am-dram company, regularly presents works in professional venues. Its Shakespeare garden show this year is The Comedy of Errors.

The play is the usual Shakespeare mix of mistaken identities and Elizabethan farce. The action centres around the footloose Antipholus of Syracuse, who is wandering the world in search of his lost twin brother, also called Antipholus. He turns up in the magical but hostile port of Ephesus with his slave Dromio, who also has a long-lost twin of the same name. Sounds confusing? Fortunately, the cast's delivery of the lines are so natural that you can easily follow the play. The jokes also went down well with the audience - even the visiting Americans were laughing at obscure Elizabethan double entendres.Although the COTG is ostensibly an amateur company, the performances were anything but. The actors are full of energy and clearly enjoyed their work, hurtling towards the climax of the play. The performances by the two Antipholes and the two Dromios were particularly impressive, creating solid central characters around which the confusion whirls. The talented Bill Moulford, who plays Antipholes of Syracuse, also composed the excellent world trance-style music. The play's mystical atmosphere is reflected in the lush setting of Trinity College gardens. The set is reminiscent of an Eastern oasis, with billowing white clouds of material in the background. And if the English weather worsens, you can even hire blankets to enable you to sit through the second half.