The Comedy of Errors
By Alaina Mabaso
EDGE Philadelphia
Wednesday Aug 5, 2009
"I to the world am like a drop of water/That in the ocean seeks another drop," laments Antipholus of Syracuse, searching for a long-lost family. Drowning in a midsummer bout of Philadelphia’s steamiest, stormiest days, Clark Park patrons may be especially able to appreciate the many watery metaphors of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, running through August 2nd.
Some vigorous, thundery downpours actually drove this year’s Clark Park opening a few blocks west to the Curio Theatre for an unexpected indoor opening. But the cast, on just a few hours’ notice, mounted a seamless, sprightly performance in a space that couldn’t have been more different than their intended setting.
I could summarize the plot, but how much do you really need to know? Two sets of identical twins, Antipholus of Syracuse (Luigi Sottile) and Antipholus of Ephesus (Bradley K. Wrenn), and their coincidentally identical servants, Dromio of Syracuse (Justin Jain) and Dromio of Ephesus (Benjamin Camp) have been sundered by shipwreck. Many years later, each unbeknownst to the other, they run amok in the same city, to the chagrin of a wife, a goldsmith, a courtesan and sundry exasperated townsfolk.
Director Alex Torra delivers an intermissionless show that runs lickety-split. Short interludes of live calliope-like music, far from being an obligatory sensory side note, infuse the show with a spunky, motley fun. The dancing adds spot-on Greek flavor. "Comedy of Errors" is probably the closest Shakespeare patrons will get to Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Torra misses no opportunity for slamming, kicking, riding, smacking, flailing and all other conceivable comedic violence (the frustration over so many mistaken identities could hardly engender anything else).
Marla Burkholder stands out in the role Adriana, who doesn’t realize her husband’s long-lost twin is in town. Her sweet, staccato ire never misses a beat. Mary Tuomanen appears as pious sister Luciana. David Sweeney gives a whirlwind, multitalented performance in various ensemble roles including the Duke, but really breaks out the fun for the bumbling, hysterical exorcist Dr. Pinch. Jess Conda ratchets up comedy over seduction as both a demanding courtesan and the bamboozled goldsmith.
Torra adds a subtle sophistication as the alternate Antipholuses and Dromios retire to respective onstage sidelines to watch the action with just the right note of ironic mirth. Asides as moments conspicuously frozen in time also work to good comedic effect, and the whole cast seems to enjoy giving outsized life to the play’s wonderfully hyberbolic language.