Executive Summary

The project involves the rehearsal and mounting of an open-air production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors outside the “student hub” in the Law School. The production will be directed by Paul Raffield, who worked for 25 years as an actor and director prior to his appointment to Warwick. The cast, musicians, and production team will be made up mainly from law students, although students from other departments will be invited to audition (like the module Shakespeare and the Law, it will be an interdisciplinary enterprise). The production team (1 assistant director, 2 stage managers, 1 wardrobe/props manager) will be assembled in Term 1 from interested law students, and the production will be cast by the end of Term 1.

Rehearsals will take place in Terms 2 and 3 (Wednesday afternoons and alternate Saturday afternoons). Suitable rehearsal space (the Humanities Studio) will be booked through IATL. Three performances will take place in Week 9 of Term 3, when the exam season has ended but many students are still on campus. The open-air production will use the paved area in front of the student hub as the main stage. The hub will be used as a backstage area. The three double doors opening onto the paved area will provide the entrances to the stage. The audience will be seated on the grass area in front of the hub. The project will be recorded on video throughout the rehearsal and performance period, and will therefore provide a permanent record of this unprecedented exercise in innovative, pedagogic enterprise.