Cape theatre picks: January 13 2012

This year’s annual open-air Shakespeare production at Maynardville is The Comedy of Errors.

It was performed here last in 1987. Directed by Matthew Wild and Angela Nemov, the Bard meets Bruce Lee in a “high-octane, new production” inspired by the classic Kung Fu cinema of the 1970s.

Set in Chinatown, two pairs of twins, separated at birth, unwittingly find themselves in the same city, unleashing a series of uproarious misunderstandings. It is the most farcical and youthful of Shakespeare’s comedies. The cast is led by Rob van Vuuren and James Cairns.

Maynardville, until February 18. Book at Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat. Tel: 021 421 7695.

■ A multidisciplinary performance, Hypnopompic (the state of consciousness before waking), takes the audience on a journey through the many-layered and magical world of a sleeper’s dreams. The set, designed by architect Amir Gazit, is a bed and becomes an ever-changing landscape. Innovative choreographic devices explore universal dream themes—of flight and being chased, eroticism and nightmare.

Stylised puppets emerge from the bed as archetypal visitors to the sleeper. Contemporary dance and physical theatre are brought together to reveal the sleeper’s confrontation with his deep fears about self-image, power and women. Performed by Israeli-born South African Amit Raz, it is directed by Craig Leo.

Arena Theatre, Hiddingh Campus, Orange Street, from January 17 to 22. Phone to book: 021 424 6772.