Was one of Shakespeare's earliest plays the world's first sitcom? Debatable. What's much less so is The Comedy of Errors is pithier than Friends. And sports much richer, intrinsically comic characters. Take Actus Primus, Scena Prima, for example. Enter Solinus (who's clearly convinced from whence the sun shineth), the Duke of Ephesus; on this occasion, Gavin Williams, a recent graduate of Sydney Theatre School's Advanced Classical Acting course.
This, however, is classic comedy, with as much owing to Mr Humphries as anything classical, as such.
High-camp, played-for-laughs; in the face of captive Aegeon's solemn pleadings to procure his fall, by doom of death, his flourished ridiculousness and feigned sympathy tap the rich vein of comedy which pervades one of Million Dollar Bill's earliest.
Bill had Sol as a just, merciful ruler. Here, director, Baz, has opted for a gay florist, which is a side-splittingly commendable decision. Indeed, throughout, Baz, via the medium of outstanding actors, like Williams, proves worth her weight in comedic gold! Martin Curtis, as pathetic Aegeon, is the perfect foil, but, save for a penultimate speech which he gives his all, he proves somewhat uncharismatic in his delivery.
Eammon Bryant, on the other hand, who for mine languished, somewhat undistinguished, in Macbeth (the other half of the '09 SSF), shines as Dromio, of Ephesus, a veritable clown, lending easy physicality to Shakespeare's biting satire. His counterpart, Dromio, of Syracuse, in Richard Hilliar is every bit his match, as an enslaved buffoon, the punching-bag of every would be noble within striking distance.
Matt Butcher, as Antipholus, of Syracuse, who arguably has more weight & gravitas in the dramatic context of Macbeth, nonetheless did a more than creditable job in helping entangle and untangle the web of mistaken identities which are the vehicle for jests. Brendan Miles, as Antipholus, of Ephesus, if anything, seemed a little more surefooted in this context.
Mind you, these discernments are but trifling, since, with but one or two reservations, all performances were of a substance befitting the material. Director, Julie Baz, even cast herself, as the fearsome Adriana, jealous wife of Antipholus, of Ephesus. And a mighty show she made of the role, too.
Milli Stilinovic, so distinguished as Lady Mac, here, again, is a treat, in her Effiesque take on Luciana, Adriana's hot-panted, panting, spinster sister, very much mutually affected by Antiphoilus, of Syracuse.
Cherilyn Price fulfils a few minor roles, among them Amelia, the Abbess, who secretes A, of S and attendant. Her funny comic pitch is a little flat & funnybone a little blunt, as compared with the energetic contributions of most of her colleagues.
Nicole Wineberg, too, covers off a few roles, the most significant being as a courtesan. She looks & feels the part, but her vocal delivery is shrill, nasal and indistinct; a shame, but something for notes, not condemnation, for she otherwise has all the makings and markings of a fine actor, in waiting.
Steve Maresca comes to the fore, if a little unevenly, self-consciously &, at times, awkwardly, as Angelo, whom he pitches somewhere between Tony Soprano & Nick Giannopoulos' creations. Good work.
Roger Adam Smith, especially as the gaoler, suffices but, again, seems better suited to the high drama of big Mac.
All-in-all, Baz has done as good a job as, well, (the other) Baz, in hitting just the right notes with this very amusing play. And it would do none of us any harm to take on-board the 'moral' of the tale: we came into the world like brother and brother; now let's go hand in hand, not one, before another.
Sydney Shakespeare Festival presents
The Comedy of Errors
by William Shakespeare
Venue: Bicentennial Park, Glebe Foreshore
Dates: 8 January - 15 February 2009 (also performing Macbeth)
Times: Thursday to Sunday @ 8pm
Bookings/Info: www.sydneyshakespearefestival.com.au
