Arts and Entertainment Editor
The final step in the production process had come. The stage was set and as the lights dimmed, the actors prepared themselves for the moment they had all been waiting for — the performance.
At long last, after weeks of preparation and rehearsals, the Main Stage Theater had an audience. On Nov. 14 friends, family and theater goers alike gathered to be entertained by one of the many comedies by Shakespeare, “The Comedy of Errors,” the first Shakespearean play to be performed in the Mertes Center Main Stage. The cast from the Las Positas theater department put on a show that had the audience in stitches.
As a play meant to confuse, “The Comedy of Errors” led the audience through a tale of mix-ups and mishaps.
When two long separated sets of twins end up in the land of Ephesus, the entire town in which they find themselves is thrown on its head by the many cases of mistaken identities that ensue.
Having practiced this play for hours and hours, the actors jumped right into character, losing themselves while personifying figments of Shakespeare’s imagination. Transforming from everyday theater students to medieval travelers, sword sporting ruffians and all around madmen, the players became the characters through well-rehearsed queues and convincing personalities.
To really make the play their own, the Las Positas theater department put their own twist on the classic comedy that audiences had to see in order to get the full effect. This new spin went on throughout the play without detracting from the main plot.
During the intermission, the director Wendy Wisely said, “It’s out of my hands now. Everything’s running smoothly, everybody still loves each other.”
Wisely went on to say that every measure of success she had set on the first day of rehearsal had been fulfilled. From start to finish, the cast met with their goal of putting on a successful rendition of Shakespeare’s comedy.
As the lights once again dimmed, people returned to their seats and the loud senseless chatter died to a deep quiet when the actors returned to the stage.
Although the play originally opened in the late 1500s, it touches on themes that remain relevant today. The play focuses on the search for identity as well as the sense of belonging, topics that in this modern era still matter even now. This idea truly makes Shakespeare’s play a timeless work.
When all was said and done, all the preparation and then the performance had finally come to an end. The cast returned to the stage for one last bow to a deafening round of applause from the audience they had worked so hard to impress.
“I’m thrilled and I think everybody had a really fun time doing it,” Wisely said about the end of the process.
Even though putting on a production is much harder work than just learning lines, “The Comedy of Errors” actors proved that the end result is all worth it. From blocking and experimenting to costumes and audiences, the work put into a single performance was an exciting and spellbinding experience for all.
