I know what you’re thinking: “Ugh. Shakespeare.”
That’s usually what I think about Shakespeare. Despite being a writer and a teacher of English, I still brace myself before attending a performance. I think, “Yes, it’s a classic, and Shakespeare was a genius, but that difficult language! The long running times! The outdated themes!”
Nevada Repertory Company, the University of Nevada, Reno’s resident theater troupe, knows you’re thinking that, too, which is why they made a pre-show announcement on opening night, asking us not to use our cell phones, or sleep.
But from the minute the lights dimmed until the show ended 90 minutes later (without an intermission), my fellow audience members and I were utterly energized, swept up in a story so beautifully staged, sharply directed and well cast that the themes felt universal, the “difficult language” was a cinch to understand, and the time flew.
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s only true farce—characterized by crude humor, slapstick physical comedy and outrageous misunderstandings. Nevada Rep has somewhat modernized it. Judging by the costumes—bowler hats, plaid tweed jackets, pin stripes—it appears to be set around the turn of the 20th century.
As the story begins, an elderly merchant from nearby Syracuse, Aegeon (Richard McIver), is being tried for the crime of doing business in Ephesus. This is strictly forbidden due to bad blood between the cities. Duke Solinus of Ephesus (Cameron Miller-DeSart) sentences Aegeon to death.
Aegeon begs for mercy. He’s in Ephesus only to look for his lost son. He tells the Duke the story of how he and his wife had identical twin sons, and had also adopted identical twin boys from a poor couple who were unable to care for them. Each carrying a biological son in one arm and an adopted son in the other, husband and wife were separated by a violent storm at sea. Now, Aegeon has wandered into Ephesus to find the two missing boys.
Duke Solinus, played hilariously by Miller-DeSart as an effeminate man given to emotional, high-pitched wails, is so moved by Aegeon’s story that he offers the condemned man a deal: He will have one day in which to be reunited with his sons before the executioner’s ax falls.
One of the sons, Antipholus of Ephesus (Justin Tanks), lives there and is married to a shrewish woman named Adriana (Rachel Smith). His poor, clownish, adopted brother, Dromio of Ephesus (Canaan Peterson), lives with him as his slave.
Antipholus of Ephesus’s behavior is less than admirable, which causes his twin brother, Antipholus of Syracuse (Jonathan Rolling), and his slave, Dromio of Syracuse (Wesley Gaines McNair), considerable trouble when they arrive in Ephesus, without a clue that each has a twin living nearby.
What most impresses me is the casting. Each member of the twin pairs astoundingly resembles the other, in both appearance and comportment. In fact, it took me a few minutes to realize that there were two Dromios.
I especially want to compliment the work of Rolling and McNair, an inspired comedic team who lit up the stage when on it.
Rob Gander’s skillful direction ensures that each cast member knows how to deliver Shakespeare’s lines effectively, placing vocal and physical emphasis where needed to ensure that each line’s meaning is understood. And the actors’ talents are made clear through subtle gestures and facial expressions that drive lines home and give humorous touches to the material throughout the show. Despite over-the-top plot points and outdated themes, the actors’ winks and nods to the audience, the little lines uttered under the breath, all completely sell the story, even to those whose hearts are the most hardened to Shakespeare.