ntermission Youth Theatre return this winter with a bold, urgent, and unmistakably contemporary reworking of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors—this time refracted through the lived experiences of London’s young people navigating identity, displacement, and the politics of belonging. Comedy of Errors Remixed, running at The Courtyard Theatre from 28 November to 20 December, arrives with a powerful creative shift: for the first time, an Intermission graduate, Stephanie Badaru, takes the helm as director.
Intermission’s annual Shakespeare remixes have long carved a distinctive niche in London’s theatre ecology—works that merge the Bard’s language with the complexities faced by young Londoners today. This year’s production pushes that mission further, grounding the comic chaos of Shakespeare’s farce in the traumatic aftershocks of civil war, asylum seeking, and multigenerational struggles with identity.
The story follows two asylum seekers, Anthony and Dominique, who flee their war-torn home—named, with characteristic Intermission flair, “Shakespeare”—only to arrive in London and discover their identical twins, assumed dead twenty years earlier, are also living in the UK. Both sets of twins share the same names; one pair speaks Shakespearean, the other Street. In a city charged with suspicion, cultural barriers, and bureaucratic hostility, the mistaken identities spiral into a fast, funny, and pointedly resonant exploration of what it means to belong.
“It’s a necessary piece of theatre for our times,” says Artistic Director Darren Raymond, who penned the adaptation. He points directly to the sharply rising public anxiety around immigration and the way attitudes toward “the other” continue to harden. For the cast—many of whom are second- or third-generation immigrants—these themes are not theoretical. They’re lived. Raymond emphasises that this remix “holds the mirror up to nature,” using comedy to illuminate truths that are often painful to confront.
On page 2 of the release, Trustee Mark Rylance praises Intermission’s Shakespeare remixes as some of his favourite contemporary encounters with the playwright’s work, crediting the “passion, wild wit and authenticity” of the youth cast—qualities he believes Shakespeare himself would have recognised.
For director Stephanie Badaru, the production represents a homecoming. A member of Intermission’s very first cohort in 2008, Badaru has moved through the organisation as participant, facilitator, and now director. “Intermission Youth has become a home for me,” she says, reflecting on nearly two decades of connection to the company. Directing the show, she adds, has been “an incredible and invaluable experience,” especially as she guides today’s young performers through a story that echoes many of their own personal histories.
The production team, featured on page 3, includes an accomplished roster of emerging and established creatives—Set Designer Constance Villemot, Lighting Designer Rajiv Pattani, Sound Designer Pierre Flasse, and Costume Designer Sheree Paton—along with trainees whose involvement is part of Intermission’s commitment to skills development and widening access to the industry.
Beyond the production itself, the press release underscores Intermission’s broader mission. For over 15 years, the company has served more than 7,500 young people across London through drama, film, mentorship, and whole-person support. Against the backdrop of youth service cuts, rising mental health crises, and widening inequality, Intermission positions itself as a lifeline—a place where creativity, structure, and community shape new futures.
Comedy of Errors Remixed continues this legacy of transformative theatre. It is both a celebration of youthful audacity and a sharp, compassionate commentary on the systems shaping young lives today. As with all of Intermission’s remixes, it is unmistakably Shakespeare—but it is also unmistakably London.
For ticket and info, please visit : https://bac.org.uk/whats-on/a-merry-misrule/