Double Up With Laughter at BAM's 'Comedy of Errors'

Nobody does drag better than the Brits.
 
Shakespearean theater troupe Propeller sticks to tradition in terms of all-male actors and the Bard’s text but, in “” at , its reverence rightfully stops there. In keeping with the bawdy entertainment of Shakespeare’s time, this version of his shortest play camps it up to the fishnet-clad hilt in an exuberantly tacky Spanish resort setting, hilariously punctuated by choreographed bursts of 1980s pop songs.
 
It seems drag runs stronger in British than American blood, so it’s unlikely that a U.S. company could top what Propeller does here. Perhaps this is partly because it was once standard in British theater that men performed all female roles. Perhaps, also, it could be attributed to the foppish fashions flaunted by (heterosexual) men in pre-Victorian Britain, a trend not exactly embraced during puritanical, macho American history.

Beyond that, in nature, the males co-opt all flamboyance, color and exhibitionist antics. So you could say that the delight stirred by this version of “Errors,” imaginatively directed by Edward Hall and designed by Michael Pavelka, is nothing less than primal.
 
Shakespeare was the master at re-working a formula, and here the “errors” of the title refer to one of his favorites: mistaken identity. He lays it on thick with a double dose of communication-bungling, wife-swapping trouble: not one pair of long-lost twins, but two.

Identical brothers, both named Antipholus, were separated by a shipwreck years ago, and their servants, both named Dromio, were separated with them. One Antipholus/Dromio pairing, from Syracuse, arrives in the hedonistic foreign land of Ephesus, unaware that their respective brothers have settled there.

Once the scene is set, the confusion mounts – and the comedy with it.

The entire cast infuses their roles with charisma, but Robert Hands as the alpha-diva wife of Ephesean Antipholus and David Newman as Luciana, her seemingly demure but actually karate-chopping, nunchuck-wielding sister, steal the show. Dominic Tighe as an amorous, leather-clad policeman and Tony Bell as an exorcist (by way of Southern preacher) also ratchet up the show’s hilarity.
 
The play builds steadily to a giddy crescendo of comic chaos and an uplifting resolution. Its premise may depend upon the characters’ confusion, but Propeller’s production will leave no-one uncertain about its imaginative and comic brilliance.

“” continues at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays until March 27 at . For tickets, visit BAM’s website here.