THE MENAECHMUS TWINS by Plautus, directed by Melee Hutton. Presented by Theatreworks Productions’ Stone Circle Project at Withrow Park (south of Danforth, between Logan and Carlaw). To August 9, Tuesday-Sunday 6 pm, matinees Saturday-Sunday 2 pm. Pwyc. theatreworksproductions.com. See listing. Rating: NNN
The circus may not be in town, but the carnival troupe in Withrow Park offers lots of comic entertainment if you’re in the mood for vigorous outdoor theatre.[rssbreak]
You rarely get to see a play by the Roman comic playwright Plautus, though you can trace his gags and characters in a current Stratford musical, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. The Stone Circle Project’s production of The Menaechmus Twins, dating from 200 BC, goes right to the source.
Using the frame of a travelling carnival hosted by a fortune-telling producer (Sarah Evans), the presentation gives us the plot right up front: twin brothers born in Syracuse but separated as boys are eventually reunited in the city of Epidamnus, despite the fact that friends and family keep mixing them up.
What makes the situation even funnier is that the twins (Wayne Ward as Menaechmus of Epidamnus and Ryan Hollyman as Menaechmus of Syracuse) look nothing alike. Each has a distinct character: Ward’s brother is a smooth, cozening lounge lizard, while Hollyman’s is prone to explosive bursts of anger and a resulting need to check his blood pressure.
Director Melee Hutton’s production capitalizes on the outsized performances and energy of the cast, which includes Adrian Proszowki as the Syracusan brother’s sensible slave Messenio and Jeffrey R. Smith as the appropriately named Sponge, the Epidamnian brother’s outrageous hanger-on who’ll do anything for a good meal. Evans has fun playing all the female characters, including Menaechmus of Epidamnus’s angry wife and the prostitute who lives next door to the unhappily married couple.
The only times the show loses the audience’s attention are the scene involving the wife’s father (Egan Ryan), whose long rant isn’t very funny, and the following episode with Seamus Morrison as a doctor called in to minister to the mad husband. Morrison’s lines can barely be heard above the park’s summer noises.
Apart from that, the comic madness keeps revving up, with Messenio finally sorting out the siblings’ problems, followed by an endearing recognition scene between Hollyman and Ward.
Bryce Kulak’s songs and melodies underline the humour, and the composer/musician’s clearly having fun late in the play when he’s pulled into the action.
