SM调教所

The SM调教所鈥檚 theatre season continues with 鈥�,鈥� a wacky, clever Shakespearean farce. The colorful, lively production, directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre, runs March 14-18 in the intimate Loft Theatre.

One of the Bard鈥檚 funniest romps, 鈥淭he Comedy of Errors鈥� follows two pairs of twins who were separated from their siblings at sea. Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse travel across the Mediterranean to Ephesus, where their identical counterparts live鈥攁nd a hilarious journey of music, magic and mistaken identities unfolds.

Rich, a Shakespeare expert whose research has explored performance practices in the playwright鈥檚 own time, will embrace the original setting of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in present-day Turkey鈥攂ut that doesn鈥檛 mean audiences should expect staid classical theatre.

鈥淧eople are going to walk in and feel like they鈥檙e on a street corner in Ephesus,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檒l be a bustling market setting, with a street musician and vendors.鈥澨�

In Shakespeare鈥檚 time, plays were almost always accompanied by lively music, and Rich wants to embrace that tradition. He鈥檚 collaborating with Senior Instructor of Dance听鈥攁 talented听 performer who specializes in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern instruments鈥攕o patrons can expect to hear everything from accordion tunes to folk melodies on the oud, a type of lute.听

Another aspect of vintage Shakespeare Rich wants to explore? That special connection actors had with audiences 400 years ago. In Elizabethan times, actors weren鈥檛 playing to passive observers in a darkened room鈥攖hey were breaking the fourth wall, addressing patrons directly and encouraging them to react rowdily.

鈥淭hese plays were written to be performed and enjoyed, not analyzed,鈥� Rich says. 鈥淚f you approach Shakespeare from a 20th-century theatre perspective, you lose some of the authenticity. Performing in a black box theatre will allow us opportunities to shake off the formality a little.鈥�

Rich also has a few more tricks up his sleeve鈥攖hey involve actors playing more than one role, gender-bending and some unexpected sound effects鈥攂ut he doesn鈥檛 want to share details quite yet. Just take his word for it: It鈥檒l be a night of knee-slapping fun.

鈥淲hen I was younger, I went through a phase where I was like, 鈥業 just want to do serious plays,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淣ow, I think there鈥檚 room for all of it, and I鈥檓 ready to create a delightful night at the theatre. I think everyone could use a pick-me-up these days.鈥澨�
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