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Comedy and Song

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Charlene Baldridge
by Ken Howard 
A weekend of contrasts: 
The Old Globe’s Comedy of Errors and Backyard Renaissance’s Parlour Song

Where Old Globe director Scott Ellis’s mission seems to be to demystify The Comedy of Errors, Backyard Renaissance playwright Jez Butterworth’s, at least with his 2008 play titled Parlour Song, seems to be the opposite.

Comedy of Errors

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The company of The Comedy of Errors
All production photos by Jim Cox

What was seen at the Old Globe Friday night (August 22) resembled a Shakespeare play titled The Comedy of Errors, but it was as if tailored for modern audiences and Broadway bound; what with its New Orleans jazz band and its pared down script. Only Associate Artist Deborah Taylor’s play-ending speech as the Abbess reminded purists where they’ve been and what they once witnessed – the glorious reunion of a family long-sundered who were reunited amidst the chaos of mistaken identities. Granted, the rest of the play is farce times two. The evening plays out in one 90-minute (or so) act.

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Rory O'Malley as Dromio of Ephesus/Dromeo of Syracuse
Glenn Howerton as Antipholus of Ephesus/Antipholus of Syracuse
Two sets of identical twins, separated in infancy -- one set the Antipholi of Syracuse and Ephesus (played by Glenn Howerton), and the other, their servants, the Dromios of Syracuse and Ephesus (played by Rory O’Malley) – transmogrify to 1920s New Orleans. Both sets are adorable. This gives renowned Broadway director Scott Ellis, who had three pieces on the Great White Way this year, excuses for the fabulous Roaring ‘20s gowns (Linda Cho is costume designer) and gangster getups, and for the strolling jazz band that separates still-recognizable scenes. It’s great fun upon Alexander Dodge’s gorgeous set (A Streetcar Named Desire might be performed on alternate evenings), and I had an unabashedly joyous evening. Philip S. Rosenberg creates remarkable lighting, Acme Sound Partners make everything audible, and Derek Cannon is responsible for no fuss music direction. The saints do come marchin’ in.


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Glenn Howerton,   Megan Dodds, Barrett Doss and Rory O'Malley



Garth Schilling (aka Miss Vodka Stinger) makes his Shakespeare debut as the Courtesan, whose rendition of “I Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl” fits right in with the bawdy tenor (pun intended) of the show. Megan Dodds, who’s actually performed Shakespeare, portrays Adriana, Antipholus of New Orleans’ wife, and Barrett Doss plays her sister, Luciana. Patrick Kerr is exceptionally well spoken as Egeon, father of the Antipholi twins. Dialect coach Ursula Meyer does a herculean job of making such a disparate company sound like one Shakespearean troupe. James Vásquez is the movement magician, George Ye the fight director, Shana Wride the assistant director. The name musicians are Cannon, Chaz Cabrera, and Jordan Morita. Others just kind of join the parade.

The Comedy of Errors continues through September 20 playing at 8pm Tuesdays-Sundays on the Lowell Davis Festival Theatre. Tickets begin at $29. www.theoldglobe.org or 619-23-GLOBE.

The aftertaste of what’s in the Parlour

If my mind had corners I would be hitting them still. Parlour Song is that kind of  Pinteresque play that drove a onetime husband to anger because he thought the playwright was purposefully toying with his inability to understand, thus proving him less than.
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Francis Gercke and Jessica John
Photo by Studio B Photo Productions


Granted, Backyard Renaissance states on its program cover, “It is not the usual song and dance.” Principals Mike Sears, Jessica John andFrancis Gercke are also pictured with Scrabble tiles stuck to their foreheads, W T F. W T F indeed. Mulling over the play will take days and days. I have a feeling the  ponders will never go away.

Fascinating or excruciatingly obfuscated, here they are, these three 40-something residents of a new housing "estate" near London. They indicate,  as suggested, that midlife is not for sissies. It’s a treacherous time when stupid things with dire consequences are set into motion, seemingly without the user’s volition; when insatiable desires and dissatisfactions rear up; when sleeplessness is common. You could waken and realize you haven’t “done anything” and life’s half finished. If you’re lucky, as Ned (Sears) says, suddenly a door appears.
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Mike Sears as Ned bent on fitness
Photo by Studio B Photo Productions


Ned is apparently the most conflicted of the trio. He can’t sleep and seems to be losing his memory. Clearly, he needs medication and professional counseling, recommended by his concerned friend and neighbor, Dale (Gercke), but Ned's job as a demolition expert precludes that: There are frequent drug tests and if he fails, he loses his job. His relationship with his wife Joy (John) seems plagued by impotence. Not only that, Ned’s “stuff” – even his gold cufflinks – is disappearing.
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Jessica John as Joy
Photo by Daren Scott

Joy is a bundle of desire. When she craves lemonade she buys out the grocer, cuts and juices and sweetens, and then loses her desire and throws the lemonade down the drain. 

Dale is a good man, concerned and more than helpful when Dale decides to shape up*. He doesn’t mean to drift into an affair with Joy. It just happens.

The presentation is not easy to parse. Doom and a threat of violence hover over the proceedings. Exactly how the three (and Dale’s unseen wife) return to their former status as nextdoor neighbors and close friends is a mystery, even to the play’s narrator and chief worrier, Dale. How Ned recovers his balance and the exact location and nature of the door is Butterworth’s last enigma.

The play, seen Sunday afternoon August 23, is a wondrous reflection of what humans go through when we realized we haven't fulfilled our youthful promise. How we manage to survive and continue is beyond me.

I can’t imagine three actors better suited to interpreter these roles than Gercke, John and Sears. It is such a pleasure to see them work under the direction of Lisa Berger, upon the realistic set created by Michael McKeon and lighted by Peet Cocke. Jessica John Gercke is credited with costumes and Matt Lescault-Wood with sound. The text is especially telling (double intend intended) in the confines of ion theatre’s Blkbox Theatre at 6thand Pennsylvania, Hillcrest. It is the resurrected Backyard Renaissance Theatre’s inaugural production. Hopefully, it will find an audience.

Parlour Song continues at 8pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 and 7pm Sundays through September 6. There is a Pay-What-You-Can industry night performance at 7pm Tuesday, Sept. 1. Tickets at BackyardRenaissance.com or in person at the door an hour before curtain, subject to availability.




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