Poor old Aegean is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s from Syracuse and his kind are not wanted in the land of Ephesus at the time. As director David Gassner points out in his notes, Aegean (played by seasoned pro David S. Klein) can be seen as an Elizabethan “undocumented alien,” a concept that could hurl Shakespeare’s earliest comedy right into our embroiled politics of 2017. It doesn’t take much of a leap to have the Duke of Ephesus (an entertaining Daniel Wood) look and act like a certain very blond president. Not to worry, the focus from the opening lines is on fun here, and this enthusiastic troupe from GreenStage delivers the craziness with aplomb!
Shakespeare borrowed the basic plot from an ancient Roman comedy and it rests upon two sets of mixed-up identities. Aegean’s sons are long separated identical twins. They and their two equally identical indentured servants wander through the land getting in all kinds of misunderstandings and trouble until a much kinder Duke (a surprise guest appearance by a liberal senator from the East) finally reestablishes sanity and order.
An enthusiastic foursome playing the two sets of twins propels the energy and high- jinx for this production. Meghan Dolbey, Natalie Gress, MJ Jurgensen and Anne Wiltgen all have enough pizzazz to fill a couple of city parks and certainly kept the ball rolling on a pleasant summer evening at the Lower Woodland Park venue.
Director Gassner provides all the tools necessary to maintain the craziness: slapstick sound effects, squirt gun fights, imaginative improvisational bits with the audience, fart jokes and dangerous butterfly nets all help to keep the outdoor crowd focused on the fun in front of them. And if we may have seen some of these antics in an old Three Stooges short—well it is summertime and the living should be easy!
By the time the GreenStage cast takes their bows to a spirited rendition of “We are Family”, their goodwill and enthusiasm have easily won the day. The GreenStage production of The Comedy of Errors runs in tandem with their production of Richard II and can by found in our local parks through August 19. All the shows are free, but donations are joyfully accepted. For more information on locales and times go to greenstage.org.