REVIEW 'Comedy of Errors' shows Shakespeare's humor

The plot covers the story of identical twins and cases of mistaken identity.
By NANCILYNN GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Everyone has misplaced something at some point in their lives. That's why William Shakespeare's & quot;The Comedy of Errors & quot; still resonates today.
In this case, it is a father who searches for his wife, his twin sons and their servants, who are also identical twins. Though known for his dramatic works, Shakespeare was also adept at writing comedy, a skill that was displayed opening night Thursday in Youngstown State University Theater's production at Ford Theatre.
The story involves identical twins and mistaken identity. Egeon (Anthony Scarsella), a merchant from the town of Syracuse is traveling by boat with his wife (Shira Puncekar), their twin sons, both named Antipholus, and the boys' servants, both named Dromio. During a storm, Egeon's wife, one of their sons and one of the servants were lost. Years later, his other son and servant leave their home to search for their missing siblings and Antipholus of Syracuse's mother.
They are not heard from in five years. Egeon travels to the city of Ephesus to look for his missing family members and servants. While he is there, Egeon is arrested. He has entered enemy territory.
Confusion for characters
As the play unfolds, the audience knows that the missing twin is now in residence at Epheseus with his servant. There is much confusion in the town when the two sets of twins are mistaken for each other, especially by Antipholus of Epheseus' wife, Adriana (Alecia Sarkis) and the goldsmith, Angelo (Todd Dicken). Adrianna believes she had dinner with her husband, when in reality it was his twin. Also, the goldsmith gives a gold necklace to one twin and then seeks payment from the other.
Alexi Stavrou and Shaun Brown as the Antipholus twins did a nice job creating characters that were similar in personality even when they had been raised separately. This helps solidify the confusion among townspeople and servants. Joseph Nahhas and Anthony Genovese as the twin servants are perfectly cast. They handle the physical aspects of their characters with abandon. Nahhas shines in his scene explaining his conversation with Antipholus of Syracuse to Adriana while acting out the scene and speaking in both voices.
Time for laughs
Genovese's comedic touch is especially present during his description of his encounter with Nell, the kitchen maid. The reunion scene between the two sets of twins is satisfying to the audience, who has been in on the joke since the beginning and enjoys seeing the characters finally realizing what caused the mix-ups.
Though the action on stage is what kept audiences entertained, the costumes must also be mentioned. Similar body types, hair color and eyes can lead one to believe that two actors are identical twins, but the addition of identical clothing created by YSU costume designer Jane Shanabarger also helped theatergoers identify the actors as twins. Anyone who enjoys physical comedy, mistaken identity and farce will have a good time at this production. It's a much-needed comic relief from the stress of life in the 21st century.