The next production at The Chesil Theatre, Winchester, The Comedy of Errors, by William Shakespeare, is a comedy which exploits to the full the potential for misunderstanding of identical twins.

Just to complicate matters, there are two sets of twins, so the Chesil is using the old convention that if characters are dressed the same, they are indistinguishable, both to the audience and everyone else on stage!

The siblings were parted at birth and are accidentally brought together in Ephesus. Mayhem follows in a mesmerising and accelerating confusion of identities.

Director, Sarah Hawkins, said: “This is Shakespeare’s lightest, shortest play — an unashamed farce. Tightly-constructed and fast-paced, it is just fun.”

The production runs from Monday, May 18 to Saturday, May 23, with performances at 7.45pm. There is also a matinée on Saturday, May 23, at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £8 for Monday and the Saturday matinée, and £10 Tuesday to Saturday. They are available from the Theatre Royal box office Jewry Street, Winchester — telephone 01962 840440.

For more information, see www.chesiltheatre.org.uk.