The 14th annual Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival will begin with a family-friendly staging of “The Comedy of Errors” weekends from July 1 through 18 outdoors at Kingsmen Park on the campus of California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks.

The company will present the play in the style of commedia dell’arte, making it a fast-paced, physical show. The characters, some in masks, will go into the audience.

The pre-show production will introduce commedia dell’arte to the crowd through audience participation.

“The Comedy of Errors” is a tale of mistaken identity involving two sets of identical twins separated at birth. Egeon, the father of one of the sets of twins, is condemned to death but is given a day to raise the ransom required to save him from execution.

Laurie Walters, who played daughter Joanie Bradford on the television show “Eight is Enough,” portrays the Abbess.

The director is CLU alumnus Kevin P. Kern, artistic director of the new Pensacola Shakespeare Theatre in Florida and faculty member at the University of West Florida. Kern made his directorial debut with the festival in 2008 with a production of “As You Like It” set in the 1970s.

Performances are 8 p.m. July 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18. The festival grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking. Pre-show entertainment featuring Renaissance music, comic Shakespearean improvisations and wandering performers begins at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets are $15 and free for those under 18. Reserved lawn box seating is $60 to $75. Parking is available at the corner of Mountclef Boulevard and Olsen Road.

Patrons should bring blankets or low-back chairs for lawn seating and jackets for cool nights.

For more information, visit www.kingsmenshakespeare.org or call (805) 493-3455.