BYU stages 1960s beach movie version of ‘Comedy of Errors’
From left: Stephen Coley, Claire Eyestone and Caleb Andrus play Antipholus of Ephesus, Adriana and Antipholus of Syracuse, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
Claire Eyestone, left, Caleb Andrus, top right, and Stephen Coley play Adriana, Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
Claire Eyestone, left, and Caleb Andrus play Adriana and Antipholus of Syracuse, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
From left: Heidi Wilding, Claire Eyestone and Stephen Coley play Dromio, Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
Caleb Andrus, left, and Heidi Wilding play Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
From left: Heidi Wilding, Caleb Andrus, Claire Eyestone and Stephen Coley play Dromio, Antipholus of Syracuse, Adriana and Antipholus of Ephesus, respectively, in the BYU Young Company's 1960s beach movie-inspired "Comedy of Errors."
Brigham Young University’s Young Company is putting a unique spin on William Shakespeare’s classic “Comedy of Errors.”
Director Kris Jennings has set the group’s current production of the play in the 1960s beach movie world.
“One of the best things about Shakespeare is his timelessness,” Jennings said in a recent BYU Arts news release. “We get a chance to explore him in lots of different universes. The universe of the 1960s beach movie works particularly well with ‘Comedy of Errors.’ There are a lot of hijinks in the play, and you have the social context of the 1960s where there was a lot going on in the nation politically and socially with young people in America.”
These ’60s beach films “celebrate teenage culture and very specific archetypes of personality and character,” according to Jennings.
“We get to explore what this looks like when the younger characters in the show have to sort out their identities in contrast to the adult characters who tend to make things worse,” Jennings said in the release.
Four performances remain of the production, including Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday matinees at 2 and 4 p.m., at the Nelke Theatre in the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center, 800 E. Campus Drive, Provo. Tickets cost $5-$8 and are available at the BYU Ticket Offices in the Harris Fine Arts Center and Marriott Center, by phone at (801) 422-2981 and online at byuarts.com.
— Sarah Harris