Review: COMEDY OF ERRORS at ARTS At Mark's

As a lifelong lover of theatre, I could write an entire novella about the non-stop insanity and side-splitting laughs I witnessed at Comedy of Errors, the hysterical slapstick fever dream cooked up by mad geniuses R Kevin Garcia Doyle and Serina Dunham as the opening offering for the 2025 Hawai’i Shakespeare Festival.

As a theatre reviewer, I am genuinely at a loss for words, for fear of giving away too much and spoiling the seemingly endless surprises contained within this show.

Suffice it to say, this is a show that needs to be seen to be believed—which you’ll have to do pretty quickly, as the only shows left are Wednesday-Sunday of this week, closing on July 20.

In the program (there are two programs, and I won’t elaborate besides recommending that you read both.) Mr. Doyle cites Mischief Theatre as a strong influence for the staging of this production of Errors, and if you’ve ever seen any of that company’s productions (e.g. The Play That Goes Wrong), you will immediately clock the inspiration. Shakespeare’s madcap multiple-mistaken-identities plot for Comedy of Errors could not be more perfectly suited to this directorial approach, and Mr. Doyle has used that springboard to orchestrate a seemingly impossible ballet of chaos and clowning out of a cast of only thirteen. Well, thirteen actors, I should say. There are technically other—no, no, I won’t say more.

Normally, I like to dedicate a good paragraph or two in my reviews to some of the more memorable performances in a given show, highlighting specific moments or songs or interesting character choices that warrant mention and praise. I cannot in good conscience do that here— not for lack of performers to celebrate, but for lack of way to describe these performances without giving away too much, or pinning my experience to a single performance, as improv and audience interaction play such a key role in this production. Absolutely everyone in this company does a fantastic job. Under any other circumstance, I would be happy to highlight them all individually. However, I cannot even identify them by their roles because they—no, no, I’ve already said too much. I can, however, safely name and applaud the technical artists behind this production, who all add to the comedy with their split-second timing and clever design. Teia O’Malley’s set design provided fun staging choices with their nautical compass floor and a massive ship backdrop with cut-outs worthy of Laugh-In.  How Violette Skilling kept their costuming choices straight is completely beyond me, but provided the necessary visual checkpoints to keep the convoluted story on track. Rachel Sorenson’s lighting sets the mood and uses blackouts to great comedic effect. And finally, Sharon Garcia Doyle’s props are iconic on a shoestring budget.