What are the chances there’s a guy walking around town with your face? What are the chances there’s another guy walking around town with your servant’s face? Antipholus and Dromio encounter some trouble when their doppelgangers seem to be on the loose in Ephesus, not realizing that their identical twins with identical names were separated from them in a shipwreck decades earlier. This sets up a chain of dominos: launching several existential crises, arrests, assaults, and an exorcism until the truth of the doubling is finally revealed. The descent into hysteria is reversed with a family reunion and a happily ever after.
Jimmy Shields makes his Seattle Shakespeare directorial debut following his appearance as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in 2023’s Twelfth Night. Originally adapted for Wooden O, this small ensemble version of The Comedy of Errors cleaves right to the heart of the comedy and features actors playing their own twins to hilarious effect.
PRODUCTION
Jimmy Shields (Director), Pilar O’Connell (Assistant Director/Text Coach), Katrina Hess (Costume Designer), Chih-Hung Shao (Lighting Designer), Malex Reed (Sound Designer/Composer), Tucker Goodman (Scenic Designer), Jessamyn Bateman-Iino (Properties Designer), Francesca Betancourt (Intimacy/Fight Director), Lexi Warden (Choreographer), P. Alyda Sorm* (Stage Manager), Anahita Sepheri (Assistant Stage Manager), Jocelyne Fowler (COVID Safety Officer), Benjamin Radin (Technical Director), Andrew Long (Assistant Technical Director), Jessica Jones (Lead Sound Engineer) and Otto Barry (Lead Sound Engineer), Clint Bull (Lead Electrician), Emily Kight (Wardrobe Lead), Madison Leiren (First Hand/Stitcher)
CAST
Ayo Tushinde* (Antipholus of Syracuse/Antipholus of Ephesus), Gloria Alcalá* (Dromio of Syracuse/Dromio of Ephesus), Rhys Daly (Luciana/Duke Solinus/Luce), Brandi Birdsong (Adriana/First Merchant/Second Merchant), Jesse Calixto* (Courtezan/Gaoler/Angelo/Emilia), Kathy Hsieh (Egeon/Pinch/Officer/Balthazar), Mike Wu (Full Cast Understudy)
*Denotes artist under AEA Contract
Run Time: 90 minutes plus one 15 minute intermission
WHAT IS DRUM AND COLOURS?The Comedy of Errors is a continuation of the Drum and Colours project first launched in winter 2022 with presentations of Hamlet and As You Like It in repertory. Furthering the work of previous projects like the Shakespeare Equity Engagement program (SEE) and the Holding Space project, Drum and Colours aims to meet the community’s needs with an all-BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) company with 360-degree representation, including actors, directors, and production team. At the director’s discretion, the production team can also include allies. It explores BIPOC company members’ personal connections to the classics and sheds new light on familiar works. SSC believes that art that is open—to adaptation, interpretation, and the recognition of the wonderful vastness of the human experience—is stronger and more long-lasting than art which ignores that complexity.