The State Theatre Company of South Australia in association with Bell Shakespeare. Dunstan Playhouse. 2 Jul 2013
The pairing of The State Theatre Company of South Australia and Bell Shakespeare to produce The Comedy of Errors will, for 2013, be ever remembered as the show I hated to love.
So much about this production didn’t work for me, however the actors were so brilliant in their execution of the characters that I was eventually worn down by the fun of it all – and once I started laughing I just couldn’t stop.
One of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors has always been funny; it is funny writing. The happenings and goings on are often so ridiculous that you cannot but laugh at the written word in the play. In this version however, director, Imara Savage openly admits to looking for the comedic genre and world in rehearsal – and it appears she, and the cast, has settled on slapstick.
For me this is the lowest form of comedy. It always results in upstaging, overacting, one-upmanship, and the unbelievable. Sure it is funny when it is executed well – and in this case that is true – but so much of the real beauty of Shakespeare’s play was lost under waves of laughter as characters fell off, tripped over, and pulled faces at each other for nearly 2 hours.
Savage has modernised the piece, dragged it into the 21st Century (where I think it has the potential to fit perfectly well) and darkened it up to be played out amongst the seedy backstreets of a neon city where “altered states of perception” rule, and where the “feeling of a night out… where we stay out until the sun comes up” dominates both the thematic arch and the choreographic nature of the production. The set, designed by Pip Runciman, consists of a rank of doors spanning the width of the stage through which much of the action takes place. Sadly, excluding one all-too-long classic farce scene in the middle of the play, the entrances and exits felt more like solutions for using so many doors rather than decisions that advanced the theme in the show. And I just don’t think it looked any good.
The players were the shining light in this production. Their execution of the text and their skilled use of comedic timing and physical comedy (Scott Witt) had the audience in raptures of laughter. Chief amongst those who excelled here were Nathan O’Keefe, Renato Musolino and Hazem Shammas. These three boys delivered in spades and were both visually and audibly excellent from start to finish. Septimus Caton started softly, but really had a chance to hit his straps as things picked up for his character in the second half. Elena Carapetis and Jude Henshall were both very strong, but seemed restricted by their outfits, constantly adjusting and pulling at them, and both were difficult to understand when lines were delivered upstage or away from the audience.
David Heinrich’s compositions were a mixed bag of excellent and just plain wrong – having said that they always fitted with the modernisation and theme and so papered over the scene changes nicely, even if they weren’t always my cup of tea.
Most interesting were some of the modern character choices. Some worked, such as the street wise, cashed up, cocky persona given to Antipholus or the sultry stripper vibe for the Courtesan, but others didn’t. I found it unsettling that the character of Dromio was cast as a bogan - as if this was some kind of comment on the slave and master, proletariat and bourgeoisie notion being played out in a modern context (here’s hoping there weren’t any easily offended bogans in the audience) - and I disagreed with the Geordie Shore, dumb blonde, tanning and cocktail parties approach to Luciana, who subsequently seemed too shallow and self-absorbed to unwittingly woo Antipholus of Syracuse by showing her deep and loving side when speaking of her sister.
Despite the decisions and choices which I feel didn’t work, I must admit that I was overjoyed with the performances and that all of the actors were individually excellent and as an ensemble perfectly in sync. The most successful thematic element employed by Savage was the slow motion, “altered states” dotted throughout the production. Here the elements of lighting, sound, casting, direction and theme always aligned and the result was beautiful to watch.
And so I shall finish as I started – hating to love this production; Benny Hill eat your heart out – this comedy is right up your alley.
Paul Rodda
When: 28 Jun to 14 Jul
Where: The Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: bass.net.au
Photography by Matt Nettheim
