Playwright: William Shakespeare. Playwright: Michael Brayndick. At: On The Spot Theatre Company at the New Rock Theater ( fka LaCosta ) Theater, 3933 N. Elston Ave. Phone: 773-639-5316;$20. Runs through: Aug. 21
Our play opens with two rapier-wielding ruffians accosting a noble lord in the town square of a village somewhere in Northern Italy circa 1560. The gentleman's bodyguard resists, but is quickly defeated. Ah, but suddenly a stranger intervenesa swordsman of vastly superior skillfollowed by several comrades likewise ready for a street brawl. Soon the stage picture is replete with flying steel as the ensuing skirmish puts the thugs to rout.
Hardly a summer passes in Chicago without a bevy of student and post-graduate theater artists culled from its many educational programs assembling a public exhibition of things they've learned in the previous yearand what better showcase for a wide variety of disciplines than a replica Renaissance-era comedy, featuring family secrets, mistaken identities, royal intrigues, cross-dressing young women, tongue-tied young men, clueless parents, ruthless villains, cherubic moppets, vulgar clowns, music, dance, puppetry, swordplay and witty repartee? Michael Brayndick's script delivers all of these elements in abundance for this On The Spot production, which gallops along at a dizzying pace over two and a half hours before reaching a mostly happy resolution.
The goal of this dramatic genre, however, is not rooted in plotdon't even try to follow the genealogical summary in the final scenebut in performance. The acting expertise of the 15-member ensemble may be uneven, lofty speeches declaimed in a melange of decidedly-American accents, but what the players lack in vocal polish, they more than redeem with infectious enthusiasm. Liz Chase's formal dances and Amy Young's delicate vocals ( backed by Mark Schnotala on mandolin ) provide restful interludes amid the narrative complexities, while Alex Farrington and David Servillo serve up a string of swashbuckling combat and equally athletic slapstickthe latter chiefly executed by Servillo, partnered with Amy Dellagiarino ( whom action-play fans will recall as Lady Snowflake in the recent Soul Samurai ) . A valiant technical team likewise overcomes low-budget restrictions within the New Rock loft's cavelike interior to locate us comfortably in our idyllic environment.
Those inclined to sneer at DIY ventures such as these would do well to remember that many of our comedic "classics" originated in precisely the kind of rough-and-ready popular entertainment celebrated in this Goldoni-inspired romp. No, it's not Stratford, or even Spring Green, but its charms are manifest, nonetheless.