October 23 was the first show of the season for the theater program here at SMSU. They presented the play The Comedy of Errors, written by William Shakespeare, with the design style inspired by The Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night. They performed on October 23, free to SMSU students with a valid student ID, October 24, 25 and November 1 and 2. On October 25 and November 1, you had the opportunity to participate in the dinner theater as well.
This year marks the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth and 50th year anniversary of The Beatles’ arrival to the United States.
The play was a comedy consisting of two sets of male twins that had their identity mistaken for one another by the duke, jeweler, jailer, wife, and even the other set of twins, which played as their side kicks.
The cast spoke in old English, just as Shakespeare had written it and performed it. In between each scene, they played songs by The Beatles’ to make each transition smooth and not awkward while they moved a few props around. The play was taken place at the Fine Arts Theater for all of the performances so there would be enough seating for the dinner theater and regular showings.
According to the theater director, Nadine Schmidt, “It seemed very successful, we had good numbers both weekends, and everyone seemed to really like the menu.”. For the dinner, the Student Hospitality Opportunities (SHO) Club created and prepared a menu for the showings. On the SMSU website, it listed the “unexpected pairings” for the show; which was, “Waldorf salad on a lettuce bed; beef Wellington (meat), or quinoa patty (vegetarian) with an apple demi-glaze; spaghetti squash “spaghetti” with a hearty marinara and cauliflower mash; savory autumn spice-maple whiskey bread pudding with a sweet apple compote.”
“The largest audience for a performance was the school matinee at noon on Oct. 30, with 195 in attendance,” Director Schmidt said. “A close second was opening night, Oct. 23 at 7:30, with 183. The largest group for dinner was Nov. 1 with 22.”
Having almost 200 people come to the play on two separate nights was a great way for the season to start!
I asked how she thought the cast and crew had performed and she responded with, “I think everyone did wonderful work! We had a wide range of ages and experience. Some in the cast and crew had a lot of theatre experience, and some had very little to none. Some of the actors had prior experience performing Shakespeare, and others had none. Everyone grew and developed in terms of their performance skills and in their ability to perform Shakespeare. The crew did a great job functioning as a team to keep the show running smoothly. This show is entered as a participating production for Region 5 of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), and has been held for consideration to be an invited Festival production. We won’t know till December if we are invited, but it is an honor to be held for consideration.” What a wonderful way to start the season!
Going to the play was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and to get a laugh in. I recommend going to any future plays to anyone that enjoys theater, a good laugh, and supporting their fellow Mustangs. Congratulations to the cast and crew for doing a great job on their first play of the season, and good luck for the rest of the year!