Hey, Bawlmer, grab some Boh and get ready for some Bard stuff, hon! That’s right, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s (CSC) Shakespeare Beyond program is returning for its third year with “It’s the Comedy of Errors, Hon!”
CSC brings free performances to parks and outdoor spaces all over Maryland with Shakespeare Beyond, and this year they’re remounting “It’s the Comedy of Errors, Hon!”, their love letter to Baltimore. The play first opened earlier this year at CSC’s Downtown Theater during their 2024-2025 mainstage season.
The new version is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” by CSC founding artistic director Ian Gallanar. It transforms the fast-paced classic into a playful and quirky celebration of Baltimore’s icons, accents, and traditions. Shakespeare Beyond’s performances will take place on the Wagon — its mobile performance unit. The audience will be treated to an all-new production, revised to be adapted to the changing landscape an outdoor tour requires.
Shows are free to attend, and the tour’s third year has Shakespeare Beyond reaching even farther across Maryland. Summer 2024’s program reached more than 3,700 people across 10 neighborhoods in Baltimore City and surrounding counties. Summer 2025’s schedule puts CSC on track to perform for more than 8,000 across Maryland from Frederick to the Eastern Shore.
“We’re enthusiastic about reaching more neighborhoods, more Marylanders, and more students this summer.” Gallanar said.
In addition to performing “It’s the Comedy of Errors, Hon!”, Shakespeare Beyond brings professional teaching artists to conduct workshops in acting, improv, stage combat, mask making, and more. CSC considers this vital to its tours, because it builds relationships beyond that of audience/performer, allowing for discovery of new ways to engage people of all ages with so many facets of the arts.
Last year’s season added a new mobile performance unit, the Shakespeare Wagon, which will be back this year.
“Designing, engineering, and building the Shakespeare Wagon meant solving challenges learned from the company’s pilot-year,” said Chester Stacy, production architect and technical director for Shakespeare Beyond. “This modest, but dynamic, 400 square feet of performance space was built from an Isuzu NPR HD with a Morgan 16-foot dry freight box. In less than two hours, a stage is built.”
The Wagon gives the company the flexibility to travel even deeper into neighborhoods, giving them the flexibility to stage a performance in parking lots, at street festivals, and in local parks across Maryland. Enabling the company to truly meet people where they live and work fulfills the program’s mission better than ever. Public performances, workshops, and collaborations with local artists in those respective towns will be open to all.
There are 17 performances scheduled around Maryland, running from Tuesday, June 17th through Saturday, August 9th. For specific dates, times, and locations, along with more information on the production and cast, click this link.
