Playwright: Shakespeare, kinda sorta. At: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis. Tickets: 773-753-4472; http//www.CourtTheatre.org; $30-$60. Runs through: Oct. 17
Sean Graney is at the center of every show he directs. High concept or deconstruction, he can't leave a great play alone. He's creative, original and mostly successful, but sometimes he's guilty of dumbing down—his Oedipus, for instance. With The Comedy of Errors, Graney is safe: it's not a great play, it's not great Shakespearian poetry and you can't dumb it down more than Shakespeare did. Graney throws out probably 75 percent of Shakespeare's actual words, but he doesn't play any faster or looser than Shakespeare played with the antique Roman original by Plautus. It's one of the few works by The Bard that properly may be termed farce.
Clearly, Graney and company used extensive improvisation in developing and rehearsing the show, and a few touches of audience interaction still remain. Great swaths of Shakespeare have been replaced with faster, looser contemporary language and lots of low comedy gags. Six actors take all the roles, each playing three or four characters via seamlessly-executed quick-change costume artistry ( whimsically designed by Jacqueline Firkins ) . The play is built around two pairs of identical twin brothers, endlessly mistaken for each other, so Graney's concept requires one actor to play both brothers in each pair of twins. Still, this version retains all the bones of Shakespeare's plot although a few characters are reduced to walk-ons.
The engaging cast makes the lickety-split timing of entrances, exits and costume changes seem effortless ( with the help of four off-stage dressers who are included in the curtain call ) . The heaviest lifting is done by Erik Hellman as the two Antipholuses ( Antipholii? ) and Alex Goodrich as both Dromios, in each case one Dromio being the slave of one well-born Antipholus. They both have great charm and appeal as do Stacy Stoltz, Elizabeth Ledo, Steve Wilson and Kurt Ehrman in multiple supporting roles.
There are a few slow moments—literally, just moments—in what is mostly an 80-minute romp, especially when Goodrich sings, dances or grins his goofy grin.
The one problematic element is Tom Burch's scenic design, meant to suggest a city street and plaza at some unspecified early-modern time. It's cleverly designed multiple levels and entrance/exit points are suitably utilitarian, but the dominant black color is NOT a color for comedy. Worse, Burch and Graney have conceived of the city as a garbage-strewn, cracked-glass, crumbling concrete ruin looking not unlike a Chicago underpass. It's just wrong, as the reason why is completely indiscernible.
This Comedy of Errors recalls a huge hit of 30 years ago, Scapino, a brilliant updating of a Moliere farce. Graney's show is not yet at that level of accomplishment, but it could get there if he is able to continue developing his concept in the future.
