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The Comedy of Errors

Ozark Actors Theatre

Director, 2014

REVIEWS

  • Rolla Daily News:  Director Jason Cannon is back this summer with an uproarious interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy.  Jason has moved the comedy from ancient Turkey to the American old west.  Funny, and funny is the operative word here, it works.  I love hearing Shakespearean dialogue spoken with an Oklahoma twang.  I also love to watch plays directed by Jason.  He always has a strong concept, stages his actors with great finesse and understands how comedy works.  Since this play is a melodramatic farce there is a lot of quick movement and comic interaction between characters.  The facial expressions these skilled actors use are hysterical.  You can read their minds by watching their faces.  The subtext is as funny as the words Shakespeare wrote.  The comic bits that Jason and his cast incorporate into the production kept the audience in uproarious laughter.  Not only has Jason set this play in the 1870’s American West, he has also inserted some popular country songs to enhance comic circumstances.  It is true that some of these great tunes weren’t around in the 1870’s (Patsy Cline, Garth Brooks, Tammy Wynette) but that doesn’t really matter.  It’s all about getting a laugh.  And laugh you will.  Some of the music and songs are original tunes written by Maglione and Ruiz.