As the Courtyard Theatre fills for Intermission Youth’s remixed Comedy of Errors, the room crackles with energy. People have been waiting to see what this company does to Shakespeare when they get their hands on it. You can feel the anticipation building, loud and bright.
This is not a polite museum version of the play. It’s Shakespeare flipped, refreshed, and planted in the messy, electric reality of London right now.
Stephanie Badaru’s direction thrusts us neck-deep in tangled identities, immigration drama, and all the big, nerve-jangling questions of belonging. But what hits hardest isn’t just the relevance, but the wild energy. One minute you’re wiping away tears from an achingly raw reunion. The next, you’re laughing out loud as two Antipholuses (Antipholi?) try to out-“London” each other with slang and swagger. The farcical confusion is played for all it’s worth.
The audience, myself included, can barely keep up with punchlines ricocheting across the stage.
The setting is no ancient Ephesus, but the relentless churn of London. What really lands here is the character work. These young performers do not hide behind the concept. They build people you can recognise, then commit to them with total focus. You get clear choices, strong physicality, and characters that stay consistent even when the plot turns chaotic.
One performance in particular is a standout: the Second Hand Man, the sidekick to the guy with the gun. The actor leans into the show’s “everything twice” rhythm by giving the Second Hand Man a specific tick, and it comes across brilliantly. It feels lived-in, like part of how that person thinks and moves through the world. Each repeated phrase lands cleaner and funnier because the behaviour is so controlled and the timing is razor sharp.
All credit to the cast for bringing the remix to life. Every single one of them goes for it, fully. And that matters, because Intermission Youth is not just staging a play. They are backing young people to tell stories with authority, including young people who have known displacement and grit up close. That lived experience threads through the work. When the cast throws urgency into a story about belonging and identity, it does not read as performance alone. It feels like something they mean.
Comedy of Errors Remixed is a riot. It’s heartfelt. It’s Shakespeare running through the veins of modern London. And it leaves you with noteworthy moments, plenty laughter , and a new perspective on life - and make sure to see it twice because there are TWO brilliant casts!
