The Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit, which travels to prisons and homeless shelters in all five boroughs before performing back at the Public’s East Village theater, presents The Comedy Errors as a border conflict between the United States and Mexico. Cast members dressed in shirts that say “border patrol” arrest a cowboy-hatted Egeon (David Ryan Smith.) Egeon tells his tale of woe – how his twin sons and their twin servants were separated by a shipwreck many seasons ago – to Solina (Zuzanna Szadkowski, in place of Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus.) Solina speaks in a Southwestern twang, wears a trucker hat that says “Make Ephesus Great Again,” and, just in case you miss the reference, carries a cardboard cut-out fan of Donald Trump. Yet, moved by Egeon’s tale, Solina gives him a day to cough up the fine or face execution…What distinguishes this production most of all is the outsized enthusiasm of the seven-member cast; the rap-like percussion that introduces many of the scenes sets the pace and lively tone of the performers, most of whom play multiple roles.
Full review at DC Theatre Scene
Click on any photograph by Joan Marcus to see it enlarged.
