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61 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 29, 2004 OSF takes a gamble on setting ‘Comedy’ in Vegas, and wins What a difference an accent makes. As Antipholus of Ephesus, Ray Porter speaks in the clipped tones of a hip Las Vegas lounge lizard of the early 1960s. As his twin, Antipholus of Syracuse, he speaks in a drawl out of Texas by way of Foghorn Leghorn. In the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s glittering new production of "The Comedy of Errors," directed by Bill Rauch, such are the poles representing Ephesus and Syracuse. In the OSF’s 2004 season-opening production, Shakespeare’s Ephesus, a "town full of cozenage," has become Vegas in the era when Frank and Dino and Sammy held sway. And it works. Playgoers will come away from the production wondering why nobody ever thought of it quite this way before. Solinus, (Mark Murphey) the Duke of Ephesus, who must enforce the law mandating that any Syracusans found in Ephesus be put to death, becomes a Mafioso heavy in Blues Brothers suit, porkpie hat and black shades. Adriana, (Crystal Fox) the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, becomes an Ann-Margret-like hottie with a dash of Pearl Bailey. Egeo, (Clive Rosengren) father of the Antipholi, becomes a garrulous, likable (OK, we didn’t say some of this wouldn’t be a stretch) old Texan off his range. It plays better than it describes. With Todd Barton’s brassy show tunes, Robert Peterson’s spectacular lighting and Joyce Kim Lee’s dead-on costumes, any doubts about the concept vanish quickly. Antipholus of Ephesus runs around in the turquoise dinner jacket of a lounge-show master of ceremonies, which Antipholus of Syracuse of course duplicates when he needs to blend in. The Dromios look like hotel bellhops. Advertisement There is little doubt "The Comedy of Errors" is an early play in the canon, some say Shakespeare’s first. He ripped off the plot from a Roman farce by Plautus but multiplied the playwright’s challenge (and our fun) by adding a second set of twins, multiplying the possibilities for misunderstandings. As the Antipholi, Porter goes nearly over the top (hey, it’s farce) but not quite, finding just the balance. He has his best moments as the Syracusan, in part because of the accent, and in part because it is the richer part. As the Dromios, Christopher DuVal is Porter’s equal, the long-suffering bondsman whose comings and goings are the key to much of the humor. This is a tightly directed, intricately blocked, very physical comedy, and it could not rise to this level without the whip-smart timing of Porter and DuVal. The lighting is almost a character itself, Peterson’s luminous eye candy bathing William Bloodgood’s two-level Angus Bowmer stage in brilliance, Vegas-like neon dancing with huge mirrors and see-through effects. Creation of the design and the cues must have been mind-numbing. Like a medieval tapestry — or maybe a fruitcake — this "Comedy" is crammed with surprises. Porter threatens at one pressure point to morph into Gollum. DuVal has some nice business with the audience. Torch singer Charisse Loriaux adds to the Sin City ambiance, even singing in the lobby at intermission. Porter created close-to-the-bone, background guitar music. We enjoy our god-like moments, rare as they are. Creating a misunderstanding and concealing it from the characters while letting the audience in on it is a sure way to bring about such moments. What fools these Ephesans and Syracusans be! Characters constantly resort to speculating about witchcraft and sorcery to explain all the weird goings-on. Doctor Pinch (Eileen De Sandre), the character who represents this angle, and who is sometimes played as a sanctimonious old bore, is here a hilarious mountebank complete with her own theme music from "The Twilight Zone." And maybe these superstitious characters have a point, even from our god-like perspective. How do you account for the Dromios and the Antipholi, who haven’t seen each other in forever, dressing identically this particular day? And how about the Abbess, living cluelessly down the street from her son all those years? Who knew? These whiffs of an alternate reality whisper hints of "Midsummer," "Macbeth" and the green-world comedies to come. But here it’s all for laughs, and lots of laughs there are. This is farce as it should be, must-see theater. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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