2008 Woodie Awards
Conservatory Review: 'A Comedy of Errors' 3 of 5 stars
By: Lanz Christian Banes
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: LifeStyle
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Not bad.
I was impressed the Conservatory was able to deliver a solid performance of William Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" after the disaster of its inaugural play, the Tennessee Williams classic "The Night of the Iguana."
"A Comedy of Errors" is one of the Bard's more amusing plays, filled with confusion and mayhem caused by mistaken identities. Taking place during the course of one day in the ancient city of Ephesus (located in modern Turkey), the play opens with a delightful sequence in which the cast tells the sad tale of Egeon (Matt Timme) and his family.
With blue sheets for the sea upon which a tiny boat is moved with frenetic energy, senior Rebecca Kloha narrates how wealthy Egeon's wife Emilia (Kelslan Scarbrough) gives birth to identical twin boys, both named Antipholus, while traveling. At nearly the same time in the same inn, a poor woman also gives birth to twin boys, both named Dromio. Egeon buys the poor boys as slaves for his own twins. Unfortunately, on the voyage home, the family is shipwrecked and separated, and an Antipholus-Dromio set winds up with Emilia and the other set with Egeon.
Years pass and Egeon's Antipholus-Dromio set decide to find out what happened to Emilia and their brothers. More years pass, and Egeon's set, known as Antipholus (Nathan Lee Burkhart) and Dromio (Charles Sydney Hirsh) of Syracuse end up in Ephesus. There, their brothers, Antipholus (Alex Burkhart) and Dromio (Michael Baxter), both of Ephesus, have made a life for themselves. To add to the impending chaos, Egeon, unbeknownst to all, is about to be executed by Solinus (Cesar Garcia), duke of Ephesus.
All this is explained in about the first five minutes of the play - an indication if there ever was one of ensuing and puzzling events of the rest of the piece.
Overall, the Conservatory handled it fairly well. It was nice to see the minimal set design, similar to the way the play might have been performed centuries ago in Elizabethan England. This allowed the audience to focus entirely on the actors, who delivered their lines with enough wit and practiced comedic timing to get the audience laughing. The lighting was a bit flat, however, though I did enjoy seeing clouds move in the background.
I was impressed the Conservatory was able to deliver a solid performance of William Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" after the disaster of its inaugural play, the Tennessee Williams classic "The Night of the Iguana."
"A Comedy of Errors" is one of the Bard's more amusing plays, filled with confusion and mayhem caused by mistaken identities. Taking place during the course of one day in the ancient city of Ephesus (located in modern Turkey), the play opens with a delightful sequence in which the cast tells the sad tale of Egeon (Matt Timme) and his family.
With blue sheets for the sea upon which a tiny boat is moved with frenetic energy, senior Rebecca Kloha narrates how wealthy Egeon's wife Emilia (Kelslan Scarbrough) gives birth to identical twin boys, both named Antipholus, while traveling. At nearly the same time in the same inn, a poor woman also gives birth to twin boys, both named Dromio. Egeon buys the poor boys as slaves for his own twins. Unfortunately, on the voyage home, the family is shipwrecked and separated, and an Antipholus-Dromio set winds up with Emilia and the other set with Egeon.
Years pass and Egeon's Antipholus-Dromio set decide to find out what happened to Emilia and their brothers. More years pass, and Egeon's set, known as Antipholus (Nathan Lee Burkhart) and Dromio (Charles Sydney Hirsh) of Syracuse end up in Ephesus. There, their brothers, Antipholus (Alex Burkhart) and Dromio (Michael Baxter), both of Ephesus, have made a life for themselves. To add to the impending chaos, Egeon, unbeknownst to all, is about to be executed by Solinus (Cesar Garcia), duke of Ephesus.
All this is explained in about the first five minutes of the play - an indication if there ever was one of ensuing and puzzling events of the rest of the piece.
Overall, the Conservatory handled it fairly well. It was nice to see the minimal set design, similar to the way the play might have been performed centuries ago in Elizabethan England. This allowed the audience to focus entirely on the actors, who delivered their lines with enough wit and practiced comedic timing to get the audience laughing. The lighting was a bit flat, however, though I did enjoy seeing clouds move in the background.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Lara Smith
posted 11/20/06 @ 6:31 PM CST
Clearly, you read the program. Why couldn't you simply look up who designed the costumes? It's a little insulting to know you bothered to look up actors and director, but none of the designers. (Continued…)
Indiana Jones
posted 11/30/06 @ 1:18 PM CST
I think the actress who played Emilia was smoking hot.
pirate's life for me
a pirate's life for me
posted 11/30/06 @ 1:25 PM CST
Yes, I concur. That Kelslan Scarbrough is a ten!
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