1993 Miracle Yearbook

A lot of people who go to Shakespearean plays take with them the preconceived idea that, whether comedy or tragedy, Shakespeare is supposed tobeboringand difficultto understand. Nothing could be far- therfrom the truth,and the cast who presented the Comedy of Errors proved that misconceived notion to befalse.Peoplelaughed."They were surprised to find that Shakespeare could be funny,and that made it all themoreenjoyable,"said oneleading cast member, David Mullins. "To make people laugh that hard at lan- guage not easily understood made the play a definite success," said he Comedy o Errors Heather Rifenberick who played Adriana, the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus. "Their facial expressions said everything," was the comment of one audience member.This supe- rior acting wasa result oflong hours of practice and teamwork and the highstandardsofdirector,Dr.Robey, who insisted that every word be ex- plained by actions on stage. The story tells oftwo sets oftwins born to a merchant and a servant on the same day on board a ship. Be- cause of a storm on sea,both sets of twins were separated. One son and boy servant were raised by their fa- ther,theothersonand boyservantby the mother. The action takes place when the two sets of identical twins unknowingly find themselves in the same city and are mistaken for one another. As one audience member put it,"The resulting mishaps were absolutely hysterical." The irony of the play was that,if they wanted to, the actors who played the Dromio twins could experience their own "Comedy of Errors" off stage. Al- though these men were not even re- lated, as the finishing curtain fell, members of the audience could be heard saying,"Can youbelievethose twins? I still cannot tell them apart." *Ruth Pfahler 'Tis true, my liege, this ringIhad ofher.