2025 Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona

It's summer, and that means it's time for my favorite theater vacay in Minnesota - Great River Shakespeare Festival in lovely riverside Winona. For over 20 years, GRSF has been producing excellent theater, primarily but not exclusively Shakespeare, within a festival that includes community engagement events, making it all feel like a fun, welcoming, theater camp. With two shows performing in rep with an acting company of nine, you could make the two-hour drive down along the river and see both shows in one day (Friday or Saturday), or stay in Winona one night and get back home to continue your weekend, or stay several nights and enjoy all of the nature and activities that are to be found in Winona. This was my 7th year attending the festival and it was once again a fun, relaxing, engaging weekend. Now in the post-season pre-Fringe lull in #TCTheater is a great time to get out of town, enjoy summer in Minnesota, and experience theater in the festival setting! Shows continue for two more week/ends, so make your plans now!

"The Comedy of Errors" by Ten Thousand Things at Plymouth Congregational Church

Last night I saw Ten Thousand Things perform Shakespeare (live and in-person, which 20 months ago would have seemed like an absurd qualifier), and for about 90 minutes, it felt like everything was right with the world. No one does Shakespeare like Ten Thousand Things; no one makes it as understandable, relatable, relevant, and fun. And when you're talking about Shakespeare's silliest and most slapsticky comedy, The Comedy of Errors, it's all about the fun. With just six actors playing all 15 (or 47, who's counting) roles, it's a rollicking good time. Of course not all is right with the world, we're still very much in the thick of this pandemic, which means TTT can't do their most important work - bringing theater out into the community to people who aren't usually able to experience theater. But they can still do what they do for the people who show up at Plymouth Congregational Church, with a pay-what-you-can option to make it more accessible. And what they do is tell stories, in the most delightful and in-the-moment way imaginable, with all the lights on.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2021: "Breakneck Comedy of Errors"

Day: 6

Show: 14

Performance Type: Virtual

Location: Streaming Anytime

Length: 60 minutes

Title: Breakneck Comedy of Errors

By: Timothy Mooney Repertory Theatre

Summary: A one-man one-hour retelling of Shakespeare's wacky tale of twins - The Comedy of Errors.

Highlights: Timothy Mooney, who also brought us Breakneck Hamlet at the 2015 Fringe, among others, now brings that breakneck speed through a full Shakespeare play to the virtual world. It's no less impressive, perhaps even more so, because now he only has the change of hat or wig, along with voice and facial expressions, to create all these different characters, rather than a full performance space. Scene by scene, he leads us through the ridiculous story of two sets of twins separated at birth who by happenstance are reunited with each other and their parents (soap operas got nothin' on Shakespeare). He also manages to provide historical background to the story, and most amusingly, commentary on the story, characters, and dialogue. In a weird way, it's actually a great and accessible way to be introduced to or gain more understanding of a Shakespeare play. An this one in particular, with all it's mistaken identities and plot twists, is particularly fun. One look at the detailed show image should tell you that.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"The Comedy of Errors" by Classical Actors Ensemble at Newell Park

This is my third summer seeing Classical Actors Ensemble's delightful Shakespeare in the Park, and I'm convinced this is how Shakespeare is meant to be seen, at least the comedies. Playful, approachable, bawdy, musical, outdoors, accessible (read: free) to all, and 90 minutes long. The Comedy of Errors is a silly farce of a play and a perfect choice for this annual event. This charming and entertaining cast makes the convoluted story (relatively) easy to follow and the Shakespearean language clear and compelling. Performances continue at parks around the Twin Cities through July 23, and I highly recommend it as a fun outing for all ages, enjoying the best that Minnesota has to offer in terms of summer weather and great theater. The performance is free with no reservations required, just show up with a blanket or lawn chair, and maybe a picnic lunch, and be ready to be entertained.

"Romeo and Juliet" by The Acting Company at the Guthrie

The Acting Company, a touring company out of NYC that travels around the country presenting classical works of theater, has spent the month of January at the Guthrie Theater.  I saw them a few weeks ago doing Shakespeare's slapstick comedy The Comedy of Errors.  I enjoyed the talented young cast so much that I had to go back to see the other show they were doing in repertory - Romeo and Juliet.  It was fun to see familiar faces in totally new roles, and although this play had a completely different tone, they again did a wonderful job and worked well together.

Our Romeo (Alejandro Rodriguez) and Juliet (Kaliswa Brewster) had pretty minor roles in The Comedy of Errors so I wasn't sure what to expect from them.  I was impressed by both of them.  They look the part of the young lovers and were believable falling in love, which quickly turned to despair.  Alejandro went from the carefree and blissful youth to the man in anguish at losing his love, literally writhing on the ground and sobbing.  The plum part of Juliet's nurse was played by Elizabeth Stahlman with great humor and energy.  Sid Solomon played Romeo's kinsman Mercutio with much of the same mannerisms as he had in Comedy, which I probably would have enjoyed more had I not been reminded of his previous character.  But he also played the Prince, a role in which he was almost recognizable.  Elizabeth Grullon played the boy Peter, a fun change from her vampy role in Comedy.  The delightful Comedy clowns Stephen Pilkington and John Skelley played the smaller but still entertaining roles of Romeo's pals.

Whenever I see Romeo and Juliet I get frustrated by all the near misses and how differently things could have turned out.  Like maybe this time, the Friar's message will get through to Romeo so he'll know Juliet is not really dead.  Or Juliet will wake up just a few minutes sooner, before Romeo has a chance to drink the poison.  Or better yet, the Friar will suggest that Juliet sneak out of her house and run away with Romeo instead of the preposterous plot of faking her death.  But it never happens; everything goes wrong and the love story ends in tragedy.  That's what makes it so deliciously heartbreaking.

After this week the company moves on around the country with their two plays, until they end the season in NYC in April.  Check out their tour itinerary to see if they'll be at a location near you.

"The Comedy of Errors" by The Acting Company at the Guthrie

I didn't know Shakespeare wrote slapstick comedies.  But The Comedy of Errors certainly is that, at least as performed by The Acting Company at the Guthrie Theater.  Complete with pratfalls, silly noises, sight gags, bawdy jokes, and plenty of actual slaps, it's way more fun than Shakespeare should be.  The Acting Company is a touring company out of New York City that tours the country with classic theater, "offering opportunities to young performers to play classical roles in major productions."  Many of the cast members are graduates of the U of M/Guthrie training program.  They're spending the month of January at the Guthrie doing The Comedy of Errors and Romeo and Juliet in repertory.  I wasn't planning to see Romeo and Juliet, thinking one show would be enough, but I really enjoyed the bright, young, charismatic cast.  I'm curious to see them in different roles in a more serious play, so I just ordered my ticket for Romeo and Juliet.  They've got an unusual number of weekday matinees on the schedule, which I imagine means a lot of school groups are coming in - always a great thing.  Next destinations on the tour are Brainerd and Madison, followed by a few more Midwest stops before a return to the East Coast.

The Acting Company cast

The Comedy of Errors features typical Shakespearean mistaken identity confusion, times two.  Two sets of twins are separated at birth, one set the "master" and the other set hired (bought?) by their parents to be the "servants."  One of each ends up with each parent, who are separated, never to meet again.  Until 25 years later.  Somehow the twins ended up with the same name, so when Antipholus and Dromio arrive in Ephesus, they're instantly mistaken for the Antipholus and Dromio who live there, and can't understand why everyone knows them but they don't know anyone.  Even Antipholus' wife is fooled, and is not happy when her husband doesn't want to come home for dinner.  Meanwhile, the "real" Antipholus and Dromio are locked out of their own home (because they're already inside) and are exasperated when people start accusing them of things they haven't done.  At times the wrong servant approaches the wrong master with something entirely other than what he asked for.  Much hijinks and confusion ensue, until after 90 minutes the two pairs meet in a hilarious scene where, after a moment of confusion, all is set right.

The four actors playing the twins are all wonderful.  John Skelley, one of my new faves (The Importance of Being Earnest and The Two Gentleman of Verona at the Guthrie), plays one of the Dromeos along with Stephen Pilkington.  Both are very funny and good at taking a punch.  Our proud and put-upon Antipholuses are Jonathan C. Kaplan and Jason McDowell-Green.  The four have great chemistry with each other, and are obviously having a good time with this show.  An interesting thing is that a few of the actors speak with British accents, while most of them do not.  I assume it was each actors' choice, and somehow it works.  Other highlights in the cast include Sid Solomon as the smarmy jewelry salesman, Whitney Hudson as Atipholus' wife who can't understand why her husband is acting so strangely, and Elizabeth Stahlman as her loyal sister, who can't understand why her brother-in-law is confessing his love for her! 

This is my first time seeing The Acting Company, and I like them.  I like what they're doing.  I look forward to Romeo and Juliet in a few weeks, as well as seeing what they'll do next year.