Elm Shakespeare Company Brings Shakespeare's COMEDY OF ERRORS To Edgerton Park

Elm Shakespeare Company returns to Edgerton Park this summer with one of Shakespeare's most wild comedies The Comedy of Errors. Celebrating its 24th Season, Elm Shakespeare provides world class theater, free of charge, to almost 30,000 audience members from throughout the greater New Haven area each August.

Elm Shakespeare Company's 2019 production of The Comedy of Errors is a wild rumpus of a play -- a whimsical tale with TWO sets of identical twins, multiple cases of mistaken identity, witty wordplay and riotous mishaps in a story of familial separation that is resonant for our times. The production starting August 15th is set in a fantastical world influenced by Dr. Seuss highlighting the allegorical and fantastical world of the play with live music before and throughout the performance to transform Edgerton Park into a party for all ages and tastes.

The Comedy of Errors is, at its heart, a tale about family love. Egeon, a merchant from 'Syracusa' arrives in the rival nation of 'Ephesus' searching for his son who himself has gone in search of his long lost twin brother. As the xenophobic Ephesians debate helping Egeon, the town erupts in confusion as (unbeknownst to anyone) his son arrives and BOTH twin sons and their identical twin servants befuddle everyone. As the mistakes multiply, everyone's fears about loneliness, infidelity, money, unwanted suitors, and even magical meddling emerge as the complexity of the world becomes seemingly insurmountable.

Director Goodheart says "The Comedy of Errors is so often underestimated, seen as no more than its delightful mix-ups and wacky fun, but it's also more relevant than it first appears. It has real stories with real stakes and some of the most beautiful love poetry that Shakespeare wrote. It's more than all its silliness... although there is a LOT of silliness."

This year Elm Shakespeare Company is proud to feature acclaimed local and national artists, including SCSU Theatre Department Chair Kaia Monroe, professor Benjamin Curns, as well as master fight choreographer Michael Jerome Johnson. In residence at Southern CT State University since 2016, the company employs a number of current and former SCSU students as actors and production staff including Cailey Harwood Smith as Property Master, James T. McLoughlin as sound designer and actors Gracy Brown and Matt Iannantuoni. Costume Designer Rebecca Welles is both a SCSU and Yale School of Drama alumna and is joined by YSD's Izmir Ickbal who is returning for his 2nd season as Set Designer.

Summer Performances will run Thursday, August 15th through Sunday, September 1st, Tuesday-Sunday at 8:00pm (with live music beginning at 7:30pm) in Edgerton Park in New Haven located at 75 Cliff Street. The performances will be free to the public with a suggested donation of $20, $10 for students and $5 for children 12 and under. Picnicking prior to the performance is encouraged and audiences should bring their own lawn chairs. Please visit the Elm Shakespeare website for more information including pre-show conversations called Tree Talks and protocol for cancellations due to inclement weather. Website: https://www.elmshakespeare.org/shakespeare-in-the-park.

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