Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company set to perform Saturday

Janus Theatre Company, in collaboration with Chicago's Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company, presents an outdoor performance of "The Comedy of Errors" at Mural Alley, 66 S. Spring St., directly across from Elgin ArtSpace Lofts in downtown Elgin.

The performance will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13. The performance is free but donations are welcome. Reservations can be made online at www.janusplays.com or www.comedyoferrors.eventbrite.com.

The public is invited to bring a lawn chair and enjoy this fast-paced show, which will be presented using unrehearsed performance techniques. This production is part of Janus Theatre's Elgin 400 Shakespeare Festival and is generously sponsored by the City of Elgin, Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, City of Elgin and Elgin Art Showcase. For information, go to www.janusplays.com.

Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company will present one of Shakespeare's most exciting comedies using cue script acting techniques. Actors will be working with "scrolls" in hand during the performance and will not have read the play or rehearsed scenes in advance. This will bring a spontaneity and improvisational quality to the show. "The Comedy of Errors" is one Shakespeare's earliest, shortest, and most farcical plays. The play is a comedy about mistaken identities and family reconciliations and is an excellent fit for Mural Alley.

Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company is led by artistic director Jared McDaris, who first began his adventures in unrehearsed Shakespeare in 2008, playing an obnoxious lawyer in Bard in the Barn's production of "Volpone." He became a perennial player and sometime director of Bard shows, and helped found the Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company in 2009. Since that time, the company has presented 20 productions at various indoor and outdoor location using unrehearsed Shakespeare techniques.