STAGE REVIEWS : A Playful, ‘Comedy of Errors’

Los Angeles Theatre Center was humming as “The Comedy of Errors” opened in the venue’s largest hall, the Tom Bradley Theatre. With a community theater production playing downstairs at the same time, and with both shows playing to intensely multicultural audiences, the pre-show lobby looked briefly like the LATC of old.

The energy was there on the Bradley stage as well. A production of Will & Co., Colin Cox’s staging of “Errors” is very loosely set in contemporary Los Angeles, and the up-to-date references and rhythms add sparks of extra fun.

The original’s two guys from Syracuse, a master and servant who come to the big city and unwittingly find each of their identical twins, are here depicted as Oklahomans coming to L.A.

Now, Oklahomans don’t actually run the risk of capital punishment for simply wandering into Los Angeles, as they do here--and Cox resists the impulse to suggest that they might be victims of street crime instead of state crime. But then “Comedy of Errors” was never much of a play by the standards of common sense or realism. As long as its farcical rhythms make sense--and make laughter--on their own terms, that’s what matters. For the most part, that happens here.

Unlike many productions that try to pass off unrelated actors as identical twins simply by dressing them alike, Cox cast one actor per each set of twins. This isn’t a logistical problem until the last scene, when all four twins appear onstage at the same time.

Cox uses oversized video screens to resolve this dilemma. The ingenuity of the video production is supposed to take our minds off the question of why these two characters have suddenly been blown up into large screen images that are viewed through the windows of a church. It doesn’t quite erase all doubts, but then again, it’s not a fatal problem, given the production’s general spirit of playfulness.

Benito Martinez plays both masters, while Sheffield Chastain plays both servants. Chastain gets most of the laughs. He draws a sharp distinction between his two accents, unfurling a broad Oklahoma twang for his visiting servant that’s especially funny when juxtaposed with Shakespeare’s words. Yet he doesn’t condescend to the character, who remains among the play’s most sharp-witted.

Linda Kerns plays Adriana, the irritated matron, with a snappy sense of comic style. She makes an interesting contrast with Karole Foreman’s Luciana, Adriana’s supposedly demure sister. Foreman, a veteran from the former LATC company, invests her lines with enough sly innuendo to completely turn the character around--a move that’s in line with the updating, since characters like the original Luciana are rare these days.

Gregg Daniel plays the merchant Balthazar and, in a hilarious turn in drag, the play’s courtesan, who has her own thing going with Adriana’s hubby.

Cox’s own appearance as the translator for the sign language-speaking judge (Rhondee Beriault) could have used more polish on opening night. Near the end, he was speaking for the judge without even looking at her. As director, he also should kill the strobe-lit scene. It’s a cliche.

Jaya’s costumes and Tomas Voth’s set brighten the stage, though the set pieces generally remain in place near the back of the arena, leaving ample room for the play’s moments of slapstick.

“The Comedy of Errors,” Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St. Thursdays-Sundays , 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 14. $12-$15. (310) 798-6290. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.