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Plain Jane, Tuesday, the Elbo\ Room Music Hall. Edgewise, Tuesday, The Ne\ Brookland Tavern. Aquilal staff writer ALI FREEMAN They've done it again. The Aquila Theatre Co., in a dynamic staging of a classic, won the audience's hearts. The London company, whose U.S. base is the University of South Carolina, presented Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" Thursday and Friday nights at the Koger Center. It's a grand enough task to win the audience's mind with Shakespeare, as many people often get lost in the language. But the Aquila actors actually know what they're talking about, and they do an excellent job of making sure the audience knows, too. "A Comedy of Errors" plays on the typical Shakespearean comedic theme of mistaken identities. Two sets of twin brothers are separated at birth, then find themselves in the same town years later. All are unaware that multiple look-alikes exist there. Much mayhem and confusion follows, but the play basically consists of a couple of hours of variations on the same joke. Not the funniest thing to read, but the audience was in cahoots Friday night. Shakespeare's comedies should be confusing and amusing, but seldom ' - H M lit ill I V V lieatre i Bpfe ss % ^ v- gj. s % ^?T . B i Hl iflmB The Aquila Theatre Co. of London Friday nights. Seven actors played ] does one see productions that are either in today's culture. One might start to think Shakespeare's comedies just aren't funny anyRESUN S U I T : $ 2 I MORE AN6ING UP YOUR V\ THERE ARE SOME THING FOR EVERYTHING El TO LEARN MORE,OR APPLY F WEB SITE AT WW 4 Etc, nakes S ~ :: %-MajgEmg ,,:ipSH WU*m pHI^B performed "A Comedy of Errors' 15 characters in the Shakespearean more. But they can be. And Aquih makes them so. Aquila members approach Shake speare with all the respect necessar to understand and beautifully portra; 0 RESUMES lAITER'S APRON F< m0F ^mi| M f mi 1 4 | v - tm. ..." IlkIS MONEY CAN'T BUY. .SE THERE'S MASTERCARD* OR A CARD,VISIT OUR W.MASTERCARD.COM/COLLEG I * V E R< tl 1 I hakespej ^Hgj: m ' \ mmEBgm hi , r*f \ : ft i\ llr w^S v m* ^||P^ 9 p. JI^HHBkIjI SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK ' at the Koger Center Thursday and comedy. a the language and the plot and character complexities. But they also approach it with all the necessary irrevy erence to do justice to the bawdy Bard's y humor. Shakespeare is funny. Really ; , ? / 1?*? >? '" ^;:,.v - y\. "> A - ,... v ,.->Vo t ' * '> c% u, ' ' My&.0v :J - ;.*v' v : $ 40 DR THE LAST TIME: ^fk I' % MasterCar r 3Wo ias| i si 4| j. ewHicH VJJ E ? u ! , I, ? jommate contracts to solve ie problems of living with people. http://www.swoon.com irp fpal I funny. It's just that our high school teachers wouldn't let us think that. In this production, excellent staging and double casting left the audi- ? ence almost as baffled as the characters on stage. I During intermission, people actu- | ally discussed, wondering how many | actors there were, who had done what. . Most were amazed when they saw how few people were on stage for the curtain call: seven very talented actors ' portrayed more than 15 characters. The twists and turns of the plot I were fun to observe. But even without | that, the play was such fun to watch. | Robert Richmond's direction always makes for a wonderful sense of move- . ment and images. Also, the creative, .visually pleasing, cohesive design was wonderful, I with costumes by USC costume pro- I fessor Lisa Martin Stuart and scenic | design by Theatre USC graduate stu- i dents David Coleman and Owen Collins. Aquila will take this show to the road, so tHere may not be another chance to see it. Luckily, they'll be back on Sept. 29 at the Koger Center with "The Odyssey." I In Aquila style, it promises to not | only do justice to the greatness of the | classical work, but also to be fresh, i inventive and fun for contemporary audiences. Don't miss out. BE I S id lions! OPEN NIGHTS 'TILL 10 pm SUNDAYS TOO! I ** !i jLii; !3e jo UJ i 0|!i <?)s! "&T mmm m i Se go uy 11 i ? % I 11? 1 ill ^ H JjiiSi! I ill ^ ii i%#i QS i ; fcs=r i I03 S " S ' iim^H n -1 f? c Q f/*) ? i 3 50 ^7?)11 ------------J | ^ 0) ill ?? ?3rk 5 1 o3 &!e2^^ i ' |igwQ^. Ij S i* 0^ ill tls^H ii ji ftf 05 i l| e^y^o'5?i i1 IlifcSs^H i! I ^ I r2 \ I o I- ---'. ! 05 i 1' ipli H \'4%B -g&sJS I uceo? (%U8 1 L g|?9 Si ;! Mis J?j s: i il? I (%sk)8 1 I k ^ 1