Shakespeare in the Park Returns to Medfield for 10th Year

An extreme comedy of errors can be witnessed Saturday night (and three chances after that) as the Gazebo Players – now in its 10th year – bring to life Shakespeare’s story of "The Comedy of Errors," a farce involving two sets of identical twins and a seemingly endless stream of mistaken identities.

Performances will be held on July 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 5 p.m. at the Gazebo near the Medfield Public Library. In case of rain, the show will go on at the Montrose School at 29 North St. Performances are free and open to the public. Picnics are encouraged and light refreshments will be available.

"The Comedy of Errors" takes place during one single day in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus.  Aegeon,  a merchant from the city of Syracuse, arrives in Ephesus and is promptly condemned to death by Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus, due to the state of war existing between the two cities.  Aegeon explains how he has been searching for his wife, their identical twin sons, and the identical twin servants of the sons since they were all separated 25 years earlier in a shipwreck. Solinus is moved by Aegeon’s story, and gives him until sundown to raise a ransom and avoid execution.

And there’s more … much more.

“People should attend to have a good time,” said Steve Small of Medfield who plays Aegeon, the merchant from Syracuse. “A 400-year-old farce that is still being produced just has to be funny. Plus, it's a great way to spend a summer evening, and how wrong can you go, the show is free.”

The cast includes Steve Small, Cynthia Small, and Jim Merlin of Medfield; Jen Walsh and Cathy Larson of Milton; Barbara Schapiro of Sharon, Mario DaRosa Jr. of Brockton, Steven Young of Canton, Brandon Homer of Weymouth, Ben Medeiros of Somerset, Shannon Hogan of Randolph, Claire Lukaczyn of Quincy, and Marielle Boudreau of Norfolk. 

It will be directed by Marianne Phinney of Walpole, who directed the Gazebo Players’ first production in 2001.

“For our 10th anniversary we wanted to get Marianne Phinney back as director," said Small. "Marianne was very instrumental in getting us off the ground, directing our first ever production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2002, and she directed three of our first four Shakespeare in the Park productions."

Phinney selected "The Comedy of Errors" as this year’s production.

Small said the group performs at other times of the year when they can find stage time. The Gazebo players are a dedicated group of actors who take their roles seriously.

“One of my personal non-Shakespeare highlights was when we did 'The Miracle Worker,'” recalls Small. “The whole cast and crew visited the Perkins School for the Blind, and some of the students there taught the members of the cast who were playing blind people the right way to ‘play blind.’”

Small said the Gazebo Players are always looking for people to get involved whether it be on stage, working backstage on props, costumes, sets, programs, sound, lights (for indoor shows), concessions, etc. In addition, donations are accepted since grant funding has decreased due to the economy. 

"The Comedy of Errors" will also be performed in Walpole at the Music Court at Bird Park on Aug. 6 and 7 at 5 p.m. In case of rain, those performances will be held at the Walpole Footlighters, 5 Scout Rd.

For more information about the group or this year’s production, visit www.gazeboplayers.com