Review: The Comedy of Errors by Young Shakespeare Troupe
by Michael Meigs
Playing Shakespeare is art but it is also craft, and there's no better way to learn both aspects than by studying and rehearsing under the guidance of a knowledgeable teacher. Austin Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors illustrates that dictum and provides fine summer evening delights at the Curtain Theatre.
The lively young company has been forced by the unusually brutal heat to cancel two afternoon matinees -- both Saturday and Sunday. But don't hesitate to drive the very short distance to the Curtain, located lakeside just west of the 360 bridge, for the evening performances that remain. Last Thursday was equally hot during the day, but as promised by Alex Alford to KEYE-TV, the 8 p.m. performance was cooled by breezes from the water.
This is sprightly Shakespeare, an early work that trades on confusions of identity, separated families, married love and budding romance. There's lots of jesting and farce. The production moves quickly, arriving at its happy ending in just about 2 hours, including the intermission. The young players take visible delight in the action, and we in the audience share fully that pleasure.
Director Matt Radford, a Brit with a lengthy acting resume in the UK, is at UT working on an advanced degree. Austin has benefited, both from his appearances on the local stage (for example, in St. Ed's Cloud 9) and from acting classes he has conducted. Austin Shakespeare's Ann Ciccolella persuaded him to take on a new project -- selecting and working with pre-university actors to produce a summer Shakespeare production.
Radford admits that he was apprehensive at first and posed two essential conditions: they would NOT do that staple of summer youth groups A Midsummer Night's Dream, and he would require fully professional standards and conduct of his company. Thanks to them for the initiative and for those conditions, for this is a cheerful and effective production, fully in keeping with the high standards of the sponsoring organization. At the post-play discussion it was clear from the actors' comments that Radford's tough love approach was valued.
The Curtain Theatre is a thrust stage in a wooden "O," very like Shakespeare's Globe. Scenery is at a minimum, so the language and action carry this play.
The opening scene is a grim moment, as the agéd merchant Egeon of Syracuse is condemned to a stiff fine or death for intruding in the city-state of Ephesus. Egeon's history and his plea outline for us the set-up: he has been searching for years for his twin sons and their twin servants, separated from him and lost when his ship foundered, years ago. This exposition comes in a lengthy, challenging text, and Mary Bryce delivers it with assurance and eloquence, setting a standard of performance not surpassed during the evening.
Then the antics begin. Unknown to the imprisoned father Egeon, one twin, Antipholus, is resident in Ephesus, well-known and well off. The other, from Syracuse, also yclept Antipholus, comes venturing into town unaware of the prohibition on Syracusans. They and their servants, each dubbed Dromio, are nicely matched, both in stature and in clothing. Confusions abound, prompting lots of berating and expostulation.
Reide Hale and Dallas Emerson as the Antipholi are confident, droll and loose-limbed; Savannah Finger and Georgia McLeland as the Dromios perform with bounce and insouciance.
The show is set in a 1940s "Casablanca to Cuba" neverland. There's plenty of room for farce, including wave splashes from the pit and a sly reference in the second act to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Ciara Flynn, the wife neglected by one Antipholus, quite astounds the other by taking him in, feeding him, and adoring him. Katie Pocock as her sister is scandalized to find her supposed brother-in-law intently romancing her.
Striking among the minor characters are Katherine Mateja as Angela the goldsmith, Kelli Kent as Madame Pinch the puppet-carrying conjuror, and tall, be-turbaned Rachel Bergmann as the courtesan.
I never quite figured out why Emilia the abbess sounded as if she came from Long Island, but Rosalind Faires carried off this role with great assurance, including the dramatic revelation in the final scene.
At times some of the actors depend a bit too much on vocal expostulation -- raised or rushed voices and breathiness -- to convey anger or consternation. At those moments Shakespeare's language, pronounced strongly but without hectic, would do the trick just as well. But the actors have, each one, nailed the text and they flow with the rhythm of the verse.
Radford and his cast diligently work the comedy and equivocations. They pay little close attention to the secondary theme of enchantments, spells and witchcraft. Those references are offered mostly as jokes, and there's little sense that anyone is touched with the questioning wonder of superstition.
The Comedy of Errors is an excellent start for Austin Shakespeare's summer youth initiative. Thanks to the generosity of Bill Dickson and the Austin Community Foundation, this is just the beginning of four years of such programming.
Congratulations and thanks to all involved.
Review by KelseyK at austinist.com, July 2
EXTRA:
Click to view program from The Comedy of Errors by Austin Young Shakespeare
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The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare
Young Shakespeare Troupe
