On Friday night I went to see the ever-anticipated spring play, A Comedy of Errors. The play was directed by the drama teacher, Ms. Amanda Malo, and also had a smaller cast than most plays in the past. I had heard very good things about the play from my classmates who had seen it earlier, and had very high expectations. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. The play followed the story of two sets of  identical twins from different towns, who arrived in the same place and kept getting mistaken for one another.

The play was also done “in the round.” This style of performance gives the audience a more intimate feel by allowing them to sit on the stage all around the actors in the middle. This is the first time Howell has ever done something like this, and I’m very glad they did. I enjoyed being so close to the actors; it made me feel so much more involved in the performance, as well as held my attention much better. It was so exciting seeing my fellow schoolmates up close and personal on stage. The smaller setting  in no way took away from the excitement and grandness surrounding the performance.

The play had a great pace all throughout. I never found myself feeling bored or thinking that it was dragging on. I really enjoyed the student singers, who kept the audience very entertained while the cast was getting ready for their next scene. The play was only about an hour and twenty minutes, which I felt was perfect.

Being that the play was done in the round, I had feared that the actors’ backs would be facing me, and that I might struggle to see. This was not the case. The blocking throughout the whole play was amazing. I never felt like I was missing something, or that I was just staring at everybody’s backs. The actors used the stage very well, and were sure to cover the whole area, instead of just standing in one place. This great use of stage not only helped the audience to see, but also to keep them entertained. During one of the scenes, they had a large dance number, and another at the end during bows. It was easy to see, and the crowd absolutely loved it.

One of the best things about the play was that it was utterly hilarious. It was written by Shakespeare, so all of the lines were not of modern day English. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand what was going on in the play, or that I wouldn’t get the humor, but again this proved to be untrue. The actions of the actors were so exaggerated that it was incredibly comical. Lou Bisio and Drew Laughner, who played one of the sets of twins, did an especially good job at this and had me laughing the whole time. Evan Webster and Sam Perkins, who played the other set of twins, had amazing facial expressions, which really helped the comedic material be conveyed to the audience. The rest of the cast was also extremely great and funny in their own ways.

Overall, I  thoroughly enjoyed this production and I am so glad I attended. It was an amazing experience. Between the hilarious content and the close-up stage, it made for a very fun time. The director, cast, and anyone else involved in the making of the show should be extremely proud of themselves, as they all made Howell proud.