The Comedy of Errors

As time and invention move spoken English further and further away from its predecessor: Elizabethan English, the language of Shakespeare gradually becomes more obscure.

To be accessible to all audiences, the humor of the Bard’s original script has to be supported and augmented by visual humor and nearly every element of the stage must collaborate to contribute to the comedic effect: facial expressions, movement, costuming, choreography, lights, make-up, wigs, sound, props and set design.

While some directors may see such necessary enhancements and augmentations as a challenge, James Dunn, director of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Marin Shakespeare, obviously relishes such opportunities for creativity.

Visually, his production is so hilarious: one could probably enjoy it without sound.

Antipholus, Dromio, Adriana and Luciana, the core characters played by Andrew Fonda Jackson, Brandon Roberts, Mary Knott and LeAnne Rumbel respectively, are true comedians pumping fresh laughter into a script that is over 400 years old.

MR Dunn quickly acknowledges that all the additional gags and humor do not completely originate with him.

In fact, MR Dunn allows his cast and crew to add the comic brush strokes that completely flesh out the body of Shakespeare’s play.

Rehearsals are a creative, inventive process involving everyone on the set.

Costume Designer Patricia Polen for example, puts the actors in classical Greco-Roman clothing classical yet clearly signals the audience that Dromio will play the part of the fool and that Antipholus obviously enjoys a happy, sensuous marriage with Adriana.

Like a pair of aerobic instructors, Choreographer Cynthia Pepper and Fight Director John Basiulis work the cast: sending them leaping, sprinting and tumbling about the stage in frantic antics.

The children in the audience laugh every bit as much as the seasoned aficionados of Shakespeare; the show is undoubtedly enjoyed immensely by all in attendance, including the cast.

For an evening of real comedy, far removed from the mundane formulas, dull recipes and canned laughter of prime time programming, get thee to THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, now through September 24 th. To reserve tickets, call the Marin Shakespeare Box Office at 415 499-4485.

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Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle