Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 10:19 a.m.
Beyond the Sun
For a rollicking good start to the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah, Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" sets a light, leave 'em laughing tone.
One of Shakespeare's youngest plays, it is also his shortest, taking two hours to unfold.
This production, in this festival's 48th year, plays the slapstick to the hilt.
Two sets of twins, two servants mixing up their masters' messages make merry and end sweetly.
The twins and servants have been separated from each other and their families, so aren't aware of each other's existance. Servant Dromio of Syracuse played by Rick Ford, and Dromio of Ephesus portrayed by Matthew Henerson are mistaken by their respective masters, Antipholus, one from Syracuse and the other from Ephesus, respectively played by Quinn Mattfeld and Michael Brusasco.
Lisa Ferris playing the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus gets to the bottom of the marriage mixup in the end, with hilarious cameos by Drew Shirley as a goldsmith and Lillian Castillo as Dr. Pinch, a conjurer.
For those new to Shakespeare, this comedy is a template for comic touches to come, especially "Twelfth Night."
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