Comedy of Errors: better than a kick in the pants (if that's what you're after)

This "Bard on the Beach":http://www2.bardonthebeach.org/index.html production of *The Comedy of Errors* is polished, breezy, and shamelessly anachronistic – in fact it is larded with unauthorized gags designed to provoke the audience to easy laughter.

In a production where the music of The Doors is juxtaposed against a world of Elizabethan fancy, where Shakespeare and the Devil appear on stage as bit-players, and where characters fight duels with skewers of rat shish-kabob – sold by chorus members with tongues firmly planted in their cheeks – there can be doubt that this is an incarnation of The Comedy of Errors that panders to the sensibility of an audience weaned on Simpsons-esque humour and deadpan wit.

Re-interpretations of Shakespeare can be delightful, liberating actors and viewers from the stultifying weight of tradition. That said, there are moments in this production where it feels that post-modernist gags occur at the expense of the original material. A few memorable scenes with Ryan Beal, who plays the serving man Dromio of Syracuse, act as a reminder that one does not need to bombard an audience with outrageous non-sequiturs in order to make Shakespeare funny. Beal steals the show with skillful storytelling though physical comedy, throwing himself across the stage with gusto, contorting himself into animal forms at will, and making a puppet-show out of miscellaneous cold-cuts from his mistress' dining table. He brings to life dialogue that, delivered by a less adroit or a less courageous actor, could become stagnant. In doing so, he demonstrates the symbiotic nature of performance, where the acting serves to animate the words of the playwright. In comparison, interjections by The Bard himself – that have no basis in Shakespeare's actual prose – seem to suggest a lack of faith on the part of the director, either in the script or in the audience. By relying heavily on this technique, this production stacks the deck in favour of easy humour. (Is your audience too sophisticated for simple slapstick? Then by all means, bring on the anthropomorphic dancing bear!).

Director David MacKay also chooses to leave undeveloped any possible subtext or satirical potential in this play. Admittedly, it is hard to see how a story about two sets of identical twins with the same names who have been separated at birth and who meet through coincidence, can ever be more than a simple farce. Yet there are tantalizing moments of moral ambiguity and near-epiphany in the script that are left all but untouched by the director. If the nobly-born brothers are as naturally alike as any two people can ever be, why is it that Antipholous of Syracuse is a starry-eyed romantic who falls instantly in love with the idealistic Luciana, while his identical twin Antipholous of Ephesus is an irresponsible wastrel, driving his own wife to despair? The pathos of the rejected wife Adriana is played purely for laughs – she waddles across the stage pregnant, lustful, and ornery. Yet there is real poignancy in several of her lonely monologues. Mackay chooses not to explore the potential for heightened contrast between what is farcical and what cuts uncomfortably close to the bone in the script. These moments get steamrollered by the frenzied antics of the cast, as they jig, jibe, and ad-lib their way to towards the play's finale.

Nonetheless, a good laugh is a good laugh, and in that respect The Comedy of Errors certainly delivers. Scene to scene, the show is consistently high-energy, and while one or two cast members truly shine, the performances are all strong and tightly orchestrated. Mara Gottler's costumes are beautifully complete in every detail, from the Elizabethan men's velvet capes and the merchants' oriental splendor, to the strategically employed leather codpieces and the Courtesan's well-placed floral accents.

Is the play worth the ticket price? Well as they say, it's better than a kick in the pants. At Bard on the Beach's Comedy of Errors, expect to watch certain unsuspecting characters receive few of those. Also expect MacKay's unabashed pop-culture interjections to tickle your oh-so-jaded 21st century funny bone. Suspend your expectations, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

_The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare. Directed by David Mackay. A Bard on the Beach production. In the Mainstage tent in Vanier Park. The production Continues until September 26 for more information, bend over and get ready to get a kick in the pants_ "here":http://www2.bardonthebeach.org/the_comedy_of_errors.html.