The Comedy of Errors – Shakespeare Done 80’s Style!

This Friday August 9th was Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company’s opening night of The Comedy of Errors – A Shakespearean ROCK MUSICAL at Cabaret du Mile End. I met Executive Producer Ace Lopes and Artistic Director Aaron George last week on CKUT’s Upstage and holy crap was I excited to see this rockin’ show! The 80’s has a special place in my heart and I embraced it fully by dressing up in my old Metallica t-shirt and teasing the hell out of my hair for the occasion.

The opening song was explosive, definitely not the way I remember Shakespeare in high-school! One of my favorite things about the show was the way the band was  creatively woven into the performance. After the first scene, one of the band members muttered, “I don’t get it, what’s going on?” which had the audience laughing as Ace responded from behind the giant drum kit, “Two twins, separated at birth..”. The music in the show served as a vehicle for the story and connected us to the emotional journey of the characters with impeccable innovation. I’d love to give a run down of the songs, but I don’t want to spoil the show for all of you that will be seeing it on the next two weekends of it’s run!

The “Jean Vest Girls” or Tawny Kittens were such an adorable and entertaining trio which kept me smiling with their fun demeanor and energetic dance moves. The costumes in the show were spot on, with no shortage of neon, animal print and big hair. I had this great moment of feeling like someone had stuck one of Shakespeare’s works into the Hot Tub Time Machine. 

The cast, wearing Madonna style headsets, sang their hearts out. I left the show talking about Rosie Callaghan (Adriana) and her truly powerful voice. I also really enjoyed the Duke’s righteous afro and Justin Johnston’s command of the room during the opening and closing scenes of the show.

This is the company’s 40th production over 12 years and you can expect to be dazzled by this show, whether you are educated on your Shakespeare or not! Catch it while you can, it’s running Friday and Saturday nights until August 24th at Cabaret du Mile End.

My two favourite romance pics: