Steampunk meets Shakespeare at Bard on the Beach
By Cheryl Minns, Arts Editor
This summer, Bard on the Beach presents Shakespeare’s classics with some new twists on old favourites. From June 4 to September 26, The Comedy of Errors will transport audiences into the world of science fiction with its Steampunk re-imagining.
“Steampunk is a genre that’s all about imagination,” director Scott Bellis said. “It’s been really fun looking at the play and coming up with ideas that can help tell the story through the perspective of a world where things are run by old, 19th century, analogue technology.”
The Comedy of Errors is the story of identical twins, Antipholus of Syracuse (Ben Elliott) and Antipholus of Ephesus (Jay Hindle), who are separated at a young age. Years later, Antipholus of Syracuse searches for his long-lost brother. Upon arriving in Ephesus, he gets mistaken for his brother and vice versa, leading both men to find themselves in a series of strange occurrences.
“Antipholus of Syracuse has no idea what’s happening, but most of what happens to him is good stuff, so he’s just all smiles. He’s confused and happy,” Elliott said.
“Antipholus of Ephesus starts off the play as a very successful merchant and has everything he wants. Then he’s handcuffed and he’s locked up. It’s a journey from the height of someone’s career to the depths, and then needing to beg for justice,” Hindle said.
In order to achieve a twin-like similarity, Elliott and Hindle rehearsed mirroring one another, so it’s apparent to audiences that their characters are twins even when the two aren’t on stage together.
“We’ve been working in rehearsals to match our movements and have similar ways of speaking. The types of things that twins have without really working at it,” Elliott said.
“Throughout the show we kind of strike similar poses or have similar mannerisms, so that a very avid viewer or audience member can spot certain similarities in the way we carry ourselves,” Hindle said.
The twins’ father Egeon is played by Bellis, who experienced the play from both sides of the stage as he switched between his directing and acting roles during rehearsals.
“You become very dependant on the people that you’re collaborating with to give you feedback on what you’re doing as an actor,” Bellis said. “I also have an assistant director, Amanda Lockitch, and she’s been extremely helpful in being the outside eye when I’m on stage.”
Bellis previously directed his Steampunk version of The Comedy of Errors for Studio 58 at Langara College in 2011. For that production, he worked with set designer Pam Johnson, who was invited to do the scenery design for Bard on the Beach’s Steampunk version of The Comedy of Errors.
“I was really interested in some of the design aspects we’d come up with, so we are bringing forward a lot of similar design elements into this production,” Bellis said. “We’re finding all kinds of places to insert little, funny gadgets here and there. Through the action of the play, people are using whacked-out guns instead of swords.”
Along with sets and props, the characters’ costumes have also been redesigned to reflect the styles of the Victorian Era and the Industrial Revolution. Hindle describes the wardrobe as having a Frontier look to it, in a style similar to Will Smith’s Wild, Wild West.
“There’s a lot of leather, cogs, gears, goggles. It’s a wonderful fashion period, with lots of layers. I have vests, a beautiful Matrix-style overcoat, hats, and a wig with goggles on top,” Hindle said. “I love that time of invention when the only limit is the imagination.”
To reflect the Steampunk style, some of The Comedy of Errors characters have been altered in some ways in order to play up their eccentricities.
“We’ve come up with some crazy ideas, like Dr. Pinch—who’s listed as a schoolmaster and a conjurer in Shakespeare’s script—has become a mad scientist in our production,” Bellis said.
The Comedy of Errors will be playing at the BMO Mainstage in Vanier Park in Vancouver from June 4 to September 26. On Talkback Tuesdays, the show will conclude with a question and answer session with the cast.
Ticket prices range from $29 (for youth 22 and under) to $55. They can be purchased online at Tickets.BardOnTheBeach.org or by phone at 604-739-0559.
