A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  T The Company of  Comedy of Errors during the finale . Photo credit: Theresa Castracane Photography. Shakespeare Theatre Company’s current production of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors , continuing through October 20 at the Klein Theatre, is a colorful, boisterous, rollicking, laugh-out-loud production. The Simon Godwin-directed show is one of Shakespeare’s shortest and most compact plays. Godwin’s production is set in a seaside village on the Mediterranean during the 1990s, which dramaturg Drew Lichtenberg notes was just ahead of when cell phones became almost universal and the Internet became such a central force in our lives. The script and the locale become springboards for Godwin and the company to embellish it with activity that Shakespeare might never have imagined, but of which he would certainly approve as the play hilariously unfolds. It begins, however, on very serious notes. The Duke of Ephesus has forbidden anyone from Syracuse to enter the city due to a trad...

  Awa Sal Secka (Bea), Colby N. Muhammad (Vanessa/Sheila/Radia), Melanie Brezill (Michelle/Chrissy/LaNiece), Victoire Charles (Jaja), Bisserat Tseggai (Miriam), Jordan Rice (Marie), Tiffany Renee Johnson (Aminata), and Mia Ellis (Jennifer) in ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.’ Photo by T. Charles Erickson Photography. Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is the title of the play by Ghanaian-American Jocelyn Bioh, as well as the name of the immigrant-owned small business in Harlem where the play takes place. In the play, we become a part of what begins as a typical day as its finely-drawn, unique, and colorful characters gather and the braiders ply their trade, creating singular looks for a variety of patrons. We are far into the play before Jaja herself appears, marking a very special event in her life, which will have implications for the entire “family” of the business. Over the course of just 90 minutes, we become well-acquainted with these characters and their situations to the extent th...