Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

Solano College Theatre is presenting Shakespeare?Äôs Comedy of Errors at the Harbor theatre in Suisun City now through 28 October. Director Julian Lopez-Morillas serves up a mixed bag of beautifully spoken lines, less-than-perfect farce, and a smattering of ponderous and hard-to-follow soliloquies that leave the audience behind, but nevertheless entertain.

I will be the first to say that doing Shakespeare well is very difficult. That being the case, when it is well-done it sings, and when it misses the mark it is abysmal. Solano College?Äôs Comedy of Errors falls somewhere in the middle.

There are some standout performances where the difficult language of the Bard is made totally comprehensible to the modern audience. Most successful, are the twins, Dromio, played by Trevor Wright and Joshua Bross. These well-matched ?Äòtwins?Äô are excellent at the physical comedy, and Wright has the added bonus of conveying the sense of the text with both vocal and visual expertise. Both Bross and Wright tumble their way across the stage, and their mugging and physical comedy bring the only genuine laughs from the production.

Also of note are Molly Millet (Luciana) and Sean Scofield (Antipholus) who manage the sometimes daunting task of speaking ?Äòold English?Äô while aiding the audience in fully following the text with their inflection and physicalization of the words. Krystal Strachan is comfortable in her role as the courtesan in glittering green belly-dancer attire, and Rachel Quinonez handles the role of Olga, (a merchant from parts East) with an admirable accent and grand presence. Stewart Evan Smith also deserves notice as a multitude of characters that range from Executioner to Exorcist.

The production is weakest in telling the story. The words do get in the way of the story (not unusual when dealing with Shakespeare?Äôs poetic prose). Lopez-Morillas attempts to bring the story into modern-day with cartoonish sound-effects and some modern affectations that sometimes work well, and other times fail. Timing of the sound-effects were often off by just enough to ruin the ?Äòjoke,?Äô but I expect that to tighten up as the run continues.

Costumes (B J Bandy), set (Kate Boyd) and lighting design (Michael Palumbo) are all up to the usual fine caliber of a Solano College Production. The Sound Design is ambitious; and, once timing is fine-tuned, adds tremendously to the production.

Comedy of Errors is not one of Shakespeare?Äôs better-known plays, and those unfamiliar with the plot will have a difficult time fully appreciating Solano?Äôs production. It has the usual improbable plot twists and the inherent problems with fully following the text that most amateur productions of the Bard engender. This troupe gets style points for a brisk production that moves along at a pretty fair clip. I would wish for more authentic nuance within the oft-times witty dialogue of the script, but for those who like some bawdy humor with their Bard, you could do worse than seek out Solano College Theatre?Äôs production of Comedy of Errors.

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