BSF's 'Comedy' Pretty 'Error' Free

SHOW INFORMATION:  The Comedy of Errors runs through February 24.  Fri – Sat at 8PM, Sun at 5PM.  Tickets are $15.00 general, $10.00 student/seniors/artists.  www.baltimoreshakespeare.org or 410-366-8596. 

◊◊◊◊ 1/2 out of five.  1 hour, 40 minutes, including intermission.

Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors which opened last weekend at the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival's Hampden theatre space marks the latest of several Teen Performance productions presented by this company.  The program, which gives a wide range of local young actors the chance to perform the Bard's work with the help of professional Shakespearean actors, directors and designers, really is a showcase for all that is right with this newest generation of young adults.  Night after night, the news media tells us of all the horrible things teenagers are doing to themselves and others.  What a joy it is to report on something so incredibly positive – it just goes to show that kids, treated with respect and with high expectations, will rise like cream to the top.  The Comedy of Errors is certainly a tribute to how great young people can be, but it is also is a tribute to what happens to a play that marries superb direction and concept to first rate casting.  The bottom line is this:  the show is not just good for "kids," it is good period.

When we started the Baltimore page of BroadwayWorld.com, we decided that it would be inappropriate to review productions acted entirely by high school students or younger, for pretty obvious reasons.  Exceptions, of course, are made where a child is the central (or a major supporting) character, like in Annie, Oliver or The Miracle Worker, but the rest of the cast and team is made up of adults.  It is with that in mind that I will certainly mention this uniformly talented cast by name, and even go so far as to mention some students to look for in the future, but I will not review their performances specifically.  The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival asked me to review the show in terms of the direction, concept and design, and I will do so.

Much of the credit for the success of this production has to go to its talented young director, Ian Belknap, who time after time pushes the limits of directorial expectation.  This young man is bold and fierce, but also has an uncanny knack for knowing when to hold back and thus always creates shows with variety and nuance.  And so far, I have yet to see a show of his that doesn't provoke thought, discussion and opinion.  In short, he creates theatre that makes audiences passionate, and that in and of itself is praise-worthy.  Here, he has come up with a beautiful concept which works without effort and without a single second of stretching to make the play fit the concept.  (Unfortunately, this kind of thing often gets in the way, especially as directors seek to put their own stamp on a Shakespeare play.)  The reason this concept works – water imagery in the costumes, sets and blocking – is because it comes directly from the script itself. 

Throughout this first play by Mr. Shakespeare, there are frequent images of water – oceans, storms, drips, drops – and Belknap uses this to teach his company and his audience that there is a bit more to the play than twins separated at birth, twin slaves separated with them, and the mayhem that issues when all four are unknowingly reunited to the confusion of all around.  Nowhere is this use of water as a concept more powerful than in the opening moments of the prologue that has a main character begin a speech that starts "I to the world am a drop of water that in the ocean seeks another drop."  At once we know that this play is about individuals that need to find a connection to others, and any number of other interpretations.  And Mr. Belknap creates a stunning image with his design team to start that moment off, including some exciting sound work from designer Andrew Gaylin, lighting effects from designer Alexandra Pappas, setting by designer Todd Mion and costumes by designer Heather C. Jackson.  This briefly serious moment informs the entire performance as we know that comedy mat be tonight, but there is a point to it, too.  Wisely, though Belknap and design team waste no time in illuminating the comic high jinx that the play is full of, for that serious moment gives way to a prologue of comic delights, earning belly laughs and a healthy hand at its conclusion.   Here the stage is fully lit to expose piles of sand bags, a pool of water (yes, a pool!), set pieces marked with depth numbers, and costumes that range from life vests, sailor hats and hip boots to dresses that suggest mermaids.  All of it – including telling who is who by what color rain poncho they wear to using a variety of umbrellas as swords – works, and really makes this production completely accessible to audience members of any age.  The Comedy of Errors may just have set a new local benchmark for conceptual realization.

It is apparent immediately that this troupe of young actors has been pushed to its best by someone who really knows what they are doing.  Some of the things they do in terms of physical comedy and vocal timing rank right up there with professional work I've seen elsewhere, but these actors must truly trust their leader.  Mr. Belknap has so carefully cast each role that he has allowed each actor to reach a new level of competency without making them out of their league, or perhaps worse, given anyone in the cast not enough to do.  The smaller ensemble roles are nicely handled (and with terrific individuality) by Chris DiGregorio, Nick DiGregorio, Hannah M. Hammer, Miki Hellerbach and Quilla Otto-Jacobs.  In major supporting roles, which include substantial soliloquies and relatively complex characters are Rebecca Sheeler-Duncan, Nick Parlato, Angelina Novak and Martha Robinchaud.  Central to the entire plot are the two sets of twins – both the maters and their slaves.  Not too surprisingly, none of these four actors are twins, though with careful attention to mannerisms, some clever costuming and a healthy, but realistic amount of suspension of disbelief, you have no trouble believing that no one Ephesus can tell the four apart.  All four of these young actors are to be commended for exciting, committed performances, and an unerring understanding of the text (not to mention fearlessness for all things physical).  The two masters are played by Noah Schechter and Julia Klavans – and the fact that they aren't the same gender is a virtual non-issue; the two slaves are played by Sarah P. Arroyo and Rebecca Etzine.  I will close by saying all four of these young people have very bright futures whether life leads them to more stages or other areas of life.

Judging by the reaction of the very well-behaved and decidedly young audience – they were silent with concentration and effuse wit their laughter throughout – I think it is safe to say that this might just be the production to take a youngster (middle school and up) to as a first taste of Shakespeare.  I bet I'd have grown to love Shakespeare at a much younger age had The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival presented The Comedy of Errors when I was a kid.

PHOTO by James Kinstle, courtesy of The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival:  LEFT to RIGHT: Rebecca Etzine, Julia Klavans, Noah Schechter and Sarah P. Arroyo.

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