Comedy of Errors
Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s early plays, meaning it lacks both Hamlet’s introspection and Macbeth’s carnage. Moreover, it’s unapologetically lowbrow: a slapstick comedy, its plot stolen by Shakespeare from a Roman comedian named Plautus. Between you and me, there is speculation that Will wrote this play to facilitate his transformation from a serious poet (having been established by his thoroughly respectable Sonnets, Venus and Adonis,and Rape of Lucrece into the far more lucrative —but disreputable — life of a playwright. (There are few indisputable facts to be gleaned from Shakespeare’s historical record--but one of them is that he absolutely was financially savvy.)
Given the above, I went to see this production with happy but low expectations — as if I were going to watch the Three Stooges’ Soup to Nuts for the umpteenth time. Honestly, I’ve seen a lot of productions of this play, and they’re always enjoyable and rarely memorable. But director James Vasquez surprised me in many felicitous ways. First, his skill at directing musicals is fully on display here: the choreography of both the musical/dance numbers and the physical comedy is superb. And his incorporation of pop music is pure comic gold. But his real triumph is making this into a Forrest Gump-style nostalgic celebration — not for the Boomers, but for Gen X. The difference in generations is crucial. Gen X grew up in the shadow of the Boomers, finally getting to the front of the buffet line only to find the Boomers had eaten it all. So it’s great to see the Xers get their moment.
The minimalist set gives us a '90s nightclub and its environs — with lots of neon. The costumes, as well as the music, range from hip-hop to grunge, reminding us that it was not a sartorial high point. I love a good use of props. Here (ironically for San Diego) the principal props are umbrellas: used effectively as disguises, to elucidate the plotline, and to introduce the idea of shadiness. Nice. The dialogue throughout incorporates surgical edits of the script to make allusions to '90s pop culture--everything fromFriends to Reno 911. (Shout-out to Shalyn Welch who absolutely channeled Clementine with physicality! Shalyn, if you find a way to incorporate the step-bump-bump sobriety test, I will worship at your altar forever.) But no more spoilers.
This production has no weak link. The cast works as one. But special mention to the leads, whose energy and physicality are splendid: Antipholis of Ephesus (Joshua Echebiri) and Antipholus of Syracuse (Brandon Michael Hall); Dromio of Ephesus (Daniel Petzold) and Dromio of Syracuse (Will Blum); Adriana (Sarah Stiles) and Luciana (Heather Velasquez).
There is no intermission, leaving little opportunity for this critic to gauge the mood of the crowd — although those walking to their cars after the production were animated and happy. But I later polled my Boomer friends who had seen the play. Unsurprisingly, they failed to pick up on the Gen X allusions — yet still found it to be a delightful production. Vasquez seems to have found the generational sweet spot.
When
Ongoing until Sunday, August 24, 2025
Hours
| Sundays, 2pm |
| Fridays, 7:30pm |
| Saturdays, 7:30pm |