Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
August 17, 2010
First Rehearsal for The Comedy of Errors
Yesterday was a day of “firsts” at Court Theatre’s rehearsal hall. Most remarkably, it was the first rehearsal of the 2010-11 Season, and to mark the occasion, Artistic Director Charlie Newell gave a warm welcome to the assembled cast, artistic team, and staff before introducing Steve Albert, who also happened to be starting his first official day as Court Theatre’s new Executive Director. Yesterday was also the first time that all of us had the opportunity to hear Sean Graney’s new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors as read by the six-member cast. Before that, though, the Comedy of Errors design team presented their models and sketches for the visual world of the play:
The Comedy of Errors scenic model, designed by Tom Burch.
The Comedy of Errors takes place in Ephesus, which director Sean Graney and scenic designer Tom Burch have envisioned as a once-prosperous city fallen on hard times. The setting of a city street is typical of Roman farce, from which Shakespeare adapted his play. Sean also gave Tom three “starting points” for thinking about the look of the play: postwar East Berlin, eighteenth-century France, and the torture room from the Saw horror movies. Tom gravitated toward French architectural elements but also French portrait paintings, which he described as society’s artistic outlet for thinking about the self (identity is an important theme in Comedy of Errors). Tom also envisioned Ephesus as being so desperate that its citizens have had to use scraps of doors, windows, even works of art to patch up its crumbling infrastructure (the doors will also open and close as the rate of entrances and exits increase). Lighting designer Heather Gilbert also hinted at some of the surprising sources of light that will appear from behind the wall of doors and windows.
The Antipholus twins, both played by Erik Hellman. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
The Dromio twins, both played by Alex Goodrich. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
For the costumes, designer Jacqueline Firkins had to tackle the practical problem of designing costumes for six actors playing twenty different characters. Each character must be sharply distinct from the others, but their costumes must be simple enough for the actors to change quickly from costume to costume (audience members who saw The Mystery of Irma Vep are familiar with this challenge). For visual inspiration, Jacqueline drew from a range of styles and periods in order for the costumes to telegraph both a historical and a contemporary sensibility.
A Boatswain and the “Angry Merchantess,” both played by Stacy Stoltz. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
Dr. Pinch and the goldsmith Angelo, both played by Kurt Ehrmann. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Firkins.
After the designers finished their presentations, the cast began to read the play for the first time. Sean has been adapting the script so that all the characters can be performed by six actors, but this was the first time everyone had the chance to see how it was going to work. Some of the choices Sean has made with the play have never been done before with Comedy of Errors, and the result has been a new, nuanced reading of an often overlooked Shakespearean comedy. For the assembled crew, however, the most important revelation of the day was how truly funny this four hundred year-old piece remains to this day.
Check back here for more behind-the-scenes updates as we delve further into the rehearsal process!
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare opens September 16, 2010. It is adapted and directed by Sean Graney.
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