“A Comedy of Errors”
Shakespeare backed by mambo music sounds like an error. And it is – “A Comedy of Errors” at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Setting the play on a tropical island with the players wearing beachcombing costumes makes the play more of a farce than usual, and no doubt this is just what director Jack Young has in mind.
The Bard’s status makes us forget about the low humor and fart jokes in his work, but Young does not. He adds many sight and sound gags of his own. A clock tower makes animal noises and “boings” when it strikes the hour. There are a number of pratfalls, masters continually beat on their servants, and there is even an impromptu tango and a game of patty-cake.
One could make the case that a few of the gags are a bit too silly, but all of them help to move along this tale of mistaken identity involving two sets of identical twins with the same names: one set of masters (Raymond L. Chapman as Antipholus of Syracuse and Bill Zielinski as Antipholus of Ephesus) and another set that are their irrepressible servants (Michael Stewart Allen as Dromio of Syracuse and Dan Kenney as Dromio of Ephesus).
The portrayals are uniformly excellent. The play goes quickly in its two hours, but not so much that you miss any of the lines or the plot. The parts are broadly played, but each character is believable in the midst of their turmoil.
If you think that Shakespeare should be done only with gravitas and actors using stentorian tones, this is not the work for you. But if you like the Bard with a bit of his original burlesque and bawdiness, you’ll want to visit the tropics down in Center Valley.
“A Comedy of Errors”, through June 29, Wednesday to Saturday 8 p.m., $35 adults, $32 for seniors/students, matinees Saturday and Sunday 1:30 p.m., $30 adults, $26 seniors/students, subscription prices available, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley, box office phone 610-282-3192, ticket order form available at www.pashakespeare.org.
--Dave Howell, 6/03
(This article first appeared in The Morning Call newspaper.)
The Bard’s status makes us forget about the low humor and fart jokes in his work, but Young does not. He adds many sight and sound gags of his own. A clock tower makes animal noises and “boings” when it strikes the hour. There are a number of pratfalls, masters continually beat on their servants, and there is even an impromptu tango and a game of patty-cake.
One could make the case that a few of the gags are a bit too silly, but all of them help to move along this tale of mistaken identity involving two sets of identical twins with the same names: one set of masters (Raymond L. Chapman as Antipholus of Syracuse and Bill Zielinski as Antipholus of Ephesus) and another set that are their irrepressible servants (Michael Stewart Allen as Dromio of Syracuse and Dan Kenney as Dromio of Ephesus).
The portrayals are uniformly excellent. The play goes quickly in its two hours, but not so much that you miss any of the lines or the plot. The parts are broadly played, but each character is believable in the midst of their turmoil.
If you think that Shakespeare should be done only with gravitas and actors using stentorian tones, this is not the work for you. But if you like the Bard with a bit of his original burlesque and bawdiness, you’ll want to visit the tropics down in Center Valley.
“A Comedy of Errors”, through June 29, Wednesday to Saturday 8 p.m., $35 adults, $32 for seniors/students, matinees Saturday and Sunday 1:30 p.m., $30 adults, $26 seniors/students, subscription prices available, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley, box office phone 610-282-3192, ticket order form available at www.pashakespeare.org.
--Dave Howell, 6/03
(This article first appeared in The Morning Call newspaper.)