Daniel Sullivan’s take on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, now at Shakespeare in the Park, is a hoot. Set in New York in the 1940’s, the show is filled with the music and lindy-hop dancing of the time, with lovely choreography by Mimi Lieber, that gives a contemporary grace to the sharp angular steps of the old dance.
The play, which gives us two sets of twins (two masters, both named Antipholus, underplayed by Hamish Linklater, and two servants, both named Dromio, played by the real comic foil in the show, Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is a great setup for misunderstandings. The cast is mostly first-rate, including a terrific Jonathan Hadary, who gives us a character that is both funny and heartfelt, and Skipp Sudduth as The Duke, who plays it like a Mafia Don, Bensonhurst accent and all, yet articulating Shakespeare’s words quite clearly.
Emily Bergl and Heidi Schreck are lively, sharp and good-lookin’ as two sisters, and it’s a fun-filled evening whose concept is brilliantly expressed and fulfilled by Sullivan as played on John Lee Beatty’s sturdy outdoor set. Costumes by Toni-Leslie James give us a sense of the far past plus the contemporary white fedora of today, and the fluidity of now for the dancers. Lots of fun for 90 minutes in a pleasant outdoor setting.
