COMPANY REP MAKES A TWIN KILLING.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic GOTTA LOVE that tube! I refer to the humongous 1950s-style television out of which the Company Rep's production of ``The Comedy of Errors'' spills with such manic verve. The program credits no designer, but the sets were painted by children from the nonprofit child empowerment agency Peace4Kids. Not only is the TV a constantly changing backdrop, it's also a screening board for the show's clever home-movie prologue showing the twins separating and being lost in a shipwreck shipwreck, complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times the number of shipwrecks due to nonhostile causes has steadily (complete with Titanic footage). As director Hope Alexander imagines it, the characters from Shakespeare's early farce appear to have emerged from a hodgepodge hodge·podge n. A mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble. [Alteration of Middle English hochepot, from Old French, stew; see hotchpot. of semi- classic TV shows. A little vaudeville vaudeville (vôd`vĭl), originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. here, a little ``Mod Squad'' there. And cue - many times - the laugh track. It makes for a bouncy and often imaginative 90 minutes. The actors are hamming it big time, as befits the plot. This isn't the first time someone has tried the throw-in-everything-but-the-commode approach to ``Errors,'' and it won't be the last. No harm done. ``Errors'' is, after all, the tale of two sets of twins - each with the same name - mixing up each other and the towns of Ephesus and Syracuse until they discover each other, their parents and true love - albeit not necessarily in that order. It's always been a ludicrous play, as well as an opportunity for farce-savvy performers to really shtick shtick also schtick or shtik n. Slang 1. A characteristic attribute, talent, or trait that is helpful in securing recognition or attention: around. At the Company Rep, the funniest include Joe Garcia Joe García (1964 in Miami Beach, Florida USA) is the Cuban-American politician. Mr. Garcia was Executive Director and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cuban American National Foundation. as Antipholus of Syracuse, the twin most confused by all the mix-ups, and Peter Brooke For the British theatrical producer and director, see . Peter Leonard Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, CH, PC (born March 3, 1934), is a British politician, a former Conservative Cabinet member, and former Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and as both a Billy Graham-like exorcist ex·or·cism n. 1. The act, practice, or ceremony of exorcising. 2. A formula used in exorcising. ex  or·cist n. and the self-adoring Prince of Ephesus. Michael Lightsey gives a wise-guy edge to the merchant Angelo, and Monique McIntyre's constantly dancing Luciana - eventual love interest to Antipholus of Syracuse - infuses a dose of peculiarity into the proceedings. This production may set a new precedent for twins who bear the least resemblance to each other. I can buy Garcia and John Edwin John Edwin (August 10, 1749 - October 31, 1790), English actor, was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. As a youth, he appeared in the provinces, in minor parts; and at Bath in 1768 he formed a connexion with a Mrs Walmsley, a milliner, who bore him a son, but whom he Shaw as the look-alike Antipholi, but how blind do the townspeople of Ephesus have to be to mix up Brandon Ford Green (who is African-American) and blond Stephen Brewster as the twin servant Dromios? Then again, if you can't suspend disbelief, you probably don't belong in ``Error'' land to begin with. Alexander and company make our stay a more than sitcom-y romp. THE COMEDY OF ERRORS - Three stars Where: American Renegade Theater, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; through June 15. Tickets: $10 to $25. Call (818) 506-7550. In a nutshell: Cheerfully manic production of Shakespeare's frothiest comedy. |
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