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Also this issue: High Notes Robert Dodge: Chairs -- A Singular Vision and
Jimmy Clark: Shards of the Wissahickon artsquicks Davy Rothbart Puppetry of the Penis Heaven and Hell Opera on the Square Momentum |
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June 26-July 2, 2003
theater
Even for those who regularly consume gallons of bitterly brewed, fully leaded, black-as-pitch coffee, there's nothing wrong with the occasional iced latte with extra whip.
The Comedy of Errors, as produced by The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, is just such a light, frothy concoction: perfect for a muggy summer night's consumption. Director Jack Young, who joined PSF last year as artistic director, cites influences such as I Love Lucy, Blazing Saddles and Looney Tunes, then plants his tongue firmly in his cheek and gallops off from there.
The tale is familiar: Two sets of twins, separated soon after birth, are reunited with each other and their long-lost parents but not before they unleash some good old-fashioned bumbling farce upon the unsuspecting townspeople. As one of the Bard's earlier works, the primary characters are a little less well developed than those in later plays and the plot is certainly weak compared to his more robust works.
None of this matters, however, once the audience drinks a dose of suspension of disbelief and enjoys this campy and irreverent interpretation for what it is: summer theater that aspires to nothing but a few good chuckles. This troupe chooses to ignore any darkness in the script; instead they milk every drop of scatological humor to be found, don fabulous Carmen Miranda gear and go for the easy laughs. Or groans of guilty pleasure.
Wisely, it seems PSF decided to cut a few corners on its production budget -- the folks behind me found diversion by watching the appropriately cartoonish set bobble and weave -- and invest those dollars in a few more experienced actors with mighty Shakespearean resumés tucked under their belts.
PSF veterans Bill Zielinski as the rakish Antipholus of Ephesus and H. Michael Walls as Aegeon are, as always, delightful. Festival newcomers Marni Penning as Adriana and Michael Stewart Allen as Dromio of Syracuse also turn in fun and larger-than-life performances. Penning's hip-swiveling strut and Amy Hutchins' perfectly timed coos, oohs and squeaks (Hutchins plays her ditsy love-thirsty sister, Luciana) are enough to make a certain redheaded Lucy and her trusty partner-in-crime proud. Of course, there are your token cringe-worthy performances, but these, happily, are not the tastes that linger on the palate.
This Technicolor production is simply good fun. If you're looking for subtle performances and deep interpretations, well, look elsewhere. If you're looking for rubber chickens, suggestive sausages, fluffy drinks, and, say, Beavis and Butthead meet Shakespeare, well, get thee to Allentown.
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Through June 29, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, 610-282-3192.
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