- Post5 Theatre
It was roughly a million degrees inside Post5 Theatre when I saw their latest, Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Coming off their next-season announcement, the theater was full of actorly types, as Artistic Director Ty Boice and other company members handed out bottled water and we settled in for a too-warm stretch of mistaken identities and heightened shenanigans.
The Comedy of Errors, which has performances through June 27, is one of Shakespeare’s most nonsensical comedies, involving two sets of estranged identical twins, the lords Antipholus and their serving-men Dromio. It’s a goofy play, even in a drought, and Boice’s cast brought high levels of energy and camp to their roles, particularly Chip Sherman, as Antipholus of Elizabetha, grinning like a shrug emoticon and exhibiting boundless energy—even in the heat—for the production’s many physical comedy flourishes. Philip Burns and Jessica Hillenbrand brought some off-kilter humor to their roles, and Ithica Tell provided perhaps the play’s only gravitas, a sensible lone George surrounded by Gracies, which is as it should be.
Here’s the thing, though: This Comedy of Errors was set in Portland, er, Portland’a. It was full of ~*nudge nudge*~ Portlandia-style whimsy, full of references to Voodoo Doughnut and tattoos and weed and strip clubs. The set included a “Put a bird on it” illustration. The word “hipster” came up a whole lot. Guys, you didn’t need any of this! By now, Post5 has proven itself to be a company that more than makes up for what it lacks in fancy window dressing with enthusiasm, some standout acting, and clever forays into physical comedy. And The Comedy of Errors is already a ridiculous play. It doesn’t need a cutesy conceit for contemporary audiences to appreciate it, and a company like Post5 need not cling to a gimmick to be entertaining. The raw material is enough. Anyone who’s seen a show at Post5 knows this.
Still, this Comedy of Errors is worth a visit for the high-energy comedy alone. The great thing about gimmicky window dressing is that it’s never what makes a play. If you can make it through the jokes about how quirky Portland is, you’ll be richly rewarded by the ones Shakespeare wrote.