BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Union High School Players will present William Shakespeare's farce The Comedy of Errors, on Oct. 14 and 15, at the BUHS Auditorium.
Shakespeare's first comedy (written in 1589 and freely adapted from a work by the Roman playwright Plautus) boasts two sets of twins, long separated by a storm at sea, who are thrown together in the town of Ephesus.
Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio, arrive in Ephesus unaware that their respective mirror image already lives in the town. Confusion ensues and escalates as each twin is mistaken for the other.
A subplot that frames the farce from start to finish involves Egeon, a merchant from Syracuse and father of the Antipholus twins, who visits Ephesus in his lifelong search for the boys and soon becomes embroiled in the complications.
In every scene, identities are confounded, roles reversed, and moral distinctions blurred as audiences watch the confusion unfold much like a juggling act, with more and more balls being tossed into the air.
The BUHS company includes many actors playing multiple roles. Featured performers include Matt Carroll (Duke Solinus. Jailer), Mary Friesen (Egeon, Luciana), Lindsay Mitnik (Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus), Louisa Strothman (Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus), Charlotte Maxwell (Adriana), Amanda Rink (Courtesan, Amelia), Emily Stromberg (Luce), Willow Coronella (Merchant), and Casey Metcalfe (Angelo, Doctor Pinch).
The production is under the direction of Bob Kramsky and is stage-managed by Willow Coronella.