What a delightful way to spend a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon. Embedded with Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors — a production by UNE Theatre Studies students directed by Ruth Thompson and Lynn Everett. It was a joyous, fun affair about two pairs of identical twins who unknowingly end up in the same ancient port town of Ephesus and from then on suffer the consequences of being mistaken for each other.
The image of two toppling columns on the back wall of the Milton Building Drama Studio summed up the crazy, chaotic style of the production. Characters whizzed in and out pursued by ladies of the night and a fierce avenging wife with bright red hair, identical twins (but strangers to each other) careered across the stage, bolted up and down ladders and popped up through trapdoors. Effective circus sound effects were provided by UNE Music students as the actors stumbled and tumbled from one misadventure to another.
Fast, irreverent and funny, the show demonstrated a high level of performance with plenty of broad farce and knockabout comedy. The opening sequence — told through song about the birth and early adventures of the twins — was clever and inventive, propelling us immediately into the main story. There were also however nuanced moments such as when the servant Dromio mimed the feelings of his master Antipholus of Ephesus as he tried to explain why he was hiding from his pursuers under the floorboards. My only reservation was that at times the action moved so fast throughout the play and the characters spoke so quickly (with unnecessary shouting) that it was difficult to pick up the intricate story of mistaken identities and deals and counter deals.
Costumes were a heady mixture of Miami glam, childlike propeller caps, a raffish top hat and tails with red trousers, lime coloured sandshoes with mismatched socks, fairytale gauze skirts and tight bodices, and a trailing train made up of playing cards. Crisscrossing coloured globes, hanging pennants and dazzling lighting effects added to the carnival atmosphere of a fairground.
Overall, an inspired, effervescent production with great pace and timing. Shakespeare would have loved it.
By Barbara Albury
