Friday, July 31 - Sunday, August 16
No, the crowd you see around the Parkman Bandstand on
the Boston Common in the next few weeks is neither part of a sit-in
nor a cookout. It’s all for laughs, Elizabethan-style. In our era of Octamom
and Jon
and Kate Plus 8, the notion of twins kicking up mischief sounds
pretty quaint, but William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors
is perhaps the best proof that setting mismatched sets of twins against each
other is a surefire way to cause double trouble, especially when members of
both sets are unaware that they’ve been separated at birth. Trust us. Mistaken
identities are a given, but that’s only the starting point for the madcap
antics that will animate Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s 14th free outdoor
summer show. Visit www.commshakes.org for times and weather cancelations. While
The
Comedy of Errors is one of the Bard’s best-known farces, one of the
best-known farces based on Shakespeare’s work is undoubtedly Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard’s speculative comedy
about the daily grind and philosophical musings and mutterings of Hamlet’s
courtiers. Bad Habit Productions presents the sharp-witted comedy across the
river at Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre (820 Mass Ave, Cambridge. 617.661.9622)
from July 30 through August 9. Get tickets ($15 online/$20 at door) at
www.cambridgeymca.org.
