The Comedy of Errors

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Comedy of Errors Barbara Ann Lukacs The Comedy of Errors Presented by The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at their Outdoor Stage located in the Greek Theatre at St. Elizabeth University, Convent Station, NJ. 8 July–1 August 2021. Directed by Brian B. Crowe. Scenic Design by Baron Pugh. Costume Design by Paul Canada. Lighting Design by Jason Flamos. Sound Design by Andrew Yoder. Production Stage Manager Emma Lindemood. With Jeffrey Marc Alkins (Antipholus of Ephesus/Antipholus of Syracuse), Marcella Cox (Courtesan/The Abbess), Dino Curia (Egeon/Balthasar/Pinch’s Assistant), Kirby Davis (2nd Merchant/Pinch’s Assistant/Officer), Ellie Gossage (Adriana), Karl Hawkins (Officer/Executioner), Isaac Hickox-Young (Duke Solinus/Pinch’s Assistant/Citizen), Anthony Paglia [End Page 175] (1st Merchant/Pinch’s Assistant/Citizen), Rupert Spraul (Angelo/Dr. Pinch), Billie Wyatt (Dromio of Ephesus/Dromio of Syracuse), and Katja Yacker (Luciana). After seventeen long months of government-mandated restrictions on large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor theater productions were allowed to reopen in New Jersey in the summer of 2021. Director Brian Crowe wisely selected The Comedy of Errors to welcome audiences back to the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s Outdoor Stage at the Greek Theatre on the campus of St. Elizabeth University in Convent Station, New Jersey. With the theme of reuniting people after a long separation, this play was the perfect offering to all who missed attending in-person performances, and who yearned for that magical connection between actors and audience that can only occur within a live theater setting. The performance was an evening of fun and laughter for both actors and audience, delivered at what was for all but the last scene a rapid-fire pace and culminating in a shared sense of joy, so that, for two brief hours, the world seemed to be as it had been before the pandemic. The set was minimal, consisting of a back wall painted in varying shades of light blue with touches of pink and white to resemble the sky with a few clouds. At the center of this wall were double doors that formed the entrance to the abbey. On the wall to either side of these doors hung large, parchment-like sheets proclaiming that anyone who came to Ephesus from Syracuse would be killed if he could not produce the necessary money to redeem his freedom. Near either end of the wall, openings provided entrances and exits for the characters. Eight free-standing, single-width doors painted in various shades of blue with white molding were spaced across the stage in a straight line. Except for the door that served as the entry to Antipholus of Ephesus’s house, none of the other doors opened. The doors that could not open served mostly as props around which the characters would run and behind which they would hide. Antipholus of Ephesus’s door was split horizontally into separate top and bottom halves (a “half-door”), with a small peephole opening in the center of its top half. These openings were exploited for comedic effect, serving as the portals through which the heated exchange of words and of other less civil expressions of sentiment between the Dromios was conducted (3.1). There was no stage furniture but for a chair on which Luciana, reading a book, sat at one point. [End Page 176] A challenge for any outdoor production is how to deal with intrusions coming from the surroundings. In this instance, these interruptions came from the overhead noise of airplanes, including small corporate jets, taking off or landing at a nearby airport. These occurrences were handled by one of the actors yelling “Airplane!” at which point stagehands would emerge from the wings bearing signs that stated, “Flying Machine Interval,” and the actors would break into a line dance to waltz music, with the audience spontaneously clapping in time to the music. Once the noise abated, the action of the play resumed. Crowe chose to use the same actors for each of the respective pairs of twins: Jeffrey Marc Alkins to portray the Antipholuses, and Billie Wyatt, a female actor, to portray the Dromios. For all but the final...