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'The Comedy of Errors,' a silly piece played to the hilt

At its heart, The Comedy of Errors is a ridiculous play with a preposterous premise. Scholars will point out its classical roots - two works by Plautus, conjoined - or its early window onto the playwright's later inquiries into identity and power. But this Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival production, directed at the fest for the second time by Russell Treyz (the first was in 1997), aims straight for the groundlings.

At its heart,

The Comedy of Errors

is a ridiculous play with a preposterous premise. Scholars will point out its classical roots - two works by Plautus, conjoined - or its early window onto the playwright's later inquiries into identity and power. But this Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival production, directed at the fest for the second time by Russell Treyz (the first was in 1997), aims straight for the groundlings.

It's up to festival favorite Carl Wallnau as Syracusan merchant Egeon to set the story's tone, and Treyz makes sure it is loud and clear by turning Egeon into a prop comic. He describes, with the assistance of baby dolls and stuffed animals, the shipwreck that separated him from his wife, one of his twin babies - both of whom are conveniently named Antipholus - and half of another set of twins - both named Dromio - whom he purchased to raise as his boys' servants.

Wallnau pulls ushers onstage to help dramatize his plight, and when the Syracusan Antipholus/Dromio pair appear on the shores of Ephesus in search of their lost kin, Treyz widens the fun to include paying spectators. (Bald? Bearded? Consider yourself warned.)

But this production belongs almost entirely to its Dromios, the diminutive Jacks to their masters' twice-as-tall but not nearly as clever giants. Steve Burns plays Syracusan Dromio, with the always sympathetic Chris Faith as the Ephesian. And yes, Burns is the original host of Nickelodeon's Blues Clues, a show whose young fans are old enough to thoroughly enjoy watching him mug, taunt, and swagger his way through a piece that, since it is one of Shakespeare's shortest and silliest, makes an excellent introduction to the canon.

Eleanor Handley also holds her own here as neurotic, headstrong Adriana, wife of Ephesian Antipholus.

Set designer Bob Phillips gets in on the levity with a purple-and-green Harlequin diamond-patterned rear facade, studded with windows like a Renaissance version of Laugh-In's joke wall. Costumer Marla Jurglanis also has a bit of fun with the women's headgear, including one wire-framed fascinator featuring what appears to be a fishing lure, that might rival Princess Beatrice's recent royal wedding topper.

Though Treyz allows the action to sag during the second act, it is not entirely his fault; by Act 5, Shakespeare has pulled this plot to its outer limits. But in a wink at the audience, Treyz continues the joke even after the big reveal, an end worthy of the script's credulity-stretching means.

The Comedy of Errors

Playing at: Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Pa. Through Sun., July 17. Tickets: $25 to $50. Information: 610-282-9455 or www.pashakespeare.org.

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