TN Shakespeare Co.'s 8th Annual Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series Presents THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Playing throughout Shelby County and beyond from September 27 – October 20.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 27, 2024
Back by popular demand, Tennessee Shakespeare Company's Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series returns for its eighth season featuring The Comedy of Errors in ten different outdoor venues throughout the Shelby County area for free September 27 – October 20. Shakespeare's whirlwind of hilarity and mistaken identities also plays indoors on TSC's newly-designed Tabor Stage for two performances for half-priced admission on September 28 and 29.
The Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series, which launches TSC's 17th season, is generously sponsored by Evans Petree PC of Memphis and the Shakespeare Fund of Theater League of Kansas City.
Outdoor performances are free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required: first-come/first-seated. Patrons are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket for seating, and to picnic. Indoor Tabor Stage performances require reservations by contacting TSC's Box Office at tnshakespeare.org or (901) 759-0604.
Directed by TSC Founder and Producing Artistic Director Dan McCleary, this 90-minute production of William Shakespeare's madcap romp features a 13-actor ensemble that includes two star-turns for two actors playing four roles: founding member Michael Khanlarian plays the long-lost twins Antipholus of Syracuse/Antipholus of Ephesus, and TSC veteran Lauren Gunn as the equally long-lost twins Dromio of Syracuse/Dromio of Ephesus. Both actors played the Macbeths two years ago in the Shout-Out Series, and last year Khanlarian played Prospero and Gunn played his would-be drunken assassin Stephano in The Tempest.
Also returning to TSC are Jeremy Bukauskas (Duke) and Stuart Heyman (Balthasar/Officer). The ensemble includes TSC newcomers Raven Martin (Second Merchant), Charles R. Ratcliff II (Angelo), and Kierra Turner (Courtesan), as well as TSC's Classical Theatre Apprentice Company: Christine Strong (Adriana), Fiona Byrne (Luciana), Jacqueline Nunweiler (Emilia), Baxter Konstans (Dr. Pinch/First Merchant), Jonathan Dimas (Egeon), and Andrew Christenson (Messenger/asst. stage manager).
The design team includes Jeremy Allen Fisher (scenic and lighting), Allison White (costumes), Melanie Mulder (properties), and Clare Kelly (scenic artist). Jasmine Simmers is the Production Stage Manager.
The Series spans four weeks this year, opening on September 27 outdoors at Bartlett Performing Arts Center. The Series returns for the first time in a few years to the bluffs of the Mississippi River with a performance on Tom Lee Park's north lawn. Other returning venues from last year include Bartlett Performing Arts Center (outdoors), Collierville Town Square, Davies Manor in Bartlett, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Overton Park Shell, Overton Square's Chimes Square Amphitheatre, St. George's Episcopal Church in Germantown, Wiseacre Brewery's Broad Avenue location, and Woodlawn in LaGrange, TN.
In The Comedy of Errors, mistaken identities (two sets of identical master/servant twins) and extraordinary misunderstandings could explode into violence along a mystical seacoast, but Shakespeare's comedies always end with marriage and compassion. The sets of twins are separated at birth in a sea storm. Now in their mid-20s and after seven years of searching for their lost other halves, the visiting master/servant pair unknowingly find themselves in the same city as their identical siblings. Chaos ensues with wrongful accusations, bewildered spouses, and a series of head-scratching errors as the visiting twins are mistaken for their home counterparts.
One of Shakespeare's earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors also is his shortest. The main story is as ancient as Greek theatre, further refined in at least two later Roman plays, which Shakespeare here combines. But he doesn't stop there. He doubles the identical twins and puts them on the clock. The story starts with a governmental threat of death of a refugee unless he can find someone to pay his bail by day's end. Enter the visiting twins -- to no one's awareness but the audiences'. Shakespeare, himself a father of twins, endows the ancient comedy with human issues: family loss and the non-traditional family, the treatment of refuges in a land influenced by commerce and legality, the fair treatment of workers, and cultural prejudice.
“Shakespeare deftly explores these modern topics which in turn drive the comedic crunch of time and identity in his version of the play,” says McCleary. “And because the story continues to stand the test of time, it's a tribute both to his sense of humor and his desire for compassion. Some of the world's sublime rhythms, set-ups, and jokes are in this play. And not to be overlooked is Shakespeare's material change of the story's ancient ending. This tale, in Roman hands, used to end with the home twin selling everything (including his wife) and exiting his city to run away with his brother. Shakespeare opts for something caringly opposite, and that dramaturgical decision will inform the rest of his plays in his life.”
Performance Schedule:
Friday, September 27 at 7:00 pm: Bartlett Performing Arts Center
3663 Appling Road, Bartlett; no reservations required
Saturday, September 28 at 7:00 pm: Tabor Stage (indoors)
TSC; half-price admission charged; reserve seats with TSC's Box Office
Sunday, September 29 at 3:00 pm: Tabor Stage (indoors)
TSC; half-price admission charged; reserve seats with TSC's Box Office
Thursday, October 3 at 7:00 pm: Wiseacre Brewery
2783 Broad Avenue, Memphis; no reservations required
Visit the El Mero Food Truck, and enjoy a drink from the Brewery
Saturday, October 5 at 4:00 pm: Woodlawn
24545 TN-57, LaGrange, TN; no reservations required
Sunday, October 6 at 3:00 pm: Dixon Gallery & Gardens
4339 Park Avenue, Memphis; no reservations required
Friday, October 11 at 7:00 pm: St. George's Episcopal Church
2425 S. Germantown Rd., Germantown; no reservations required
Saturday, October 12 at 5:00 pm: Tom Lee Park north lawn
Downtown, Huling Avenue entrance; no reservations required
Sunday, October 13 at 4:00 pm: Davies Manor
3570 Davieshire Dr., Bartlett; no reservations required
Friday, October 18 at 7:00 pm: Overton Square's Chimes Square Amphitheatre
2101 Madison Avenue, Memphis; no reservations required
Saturday, October 19 at 7:00 pm: Collierville Town Square's Train Depot
96 N. Center Street, Collierville; no reservations required
Sunday, October 20 at 4:00 pm: Overton Park Shell
1928 Poplar Avenue, Memphis; no reservations required
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