The Rep Closes 45th Season With THE COMEDY OF ERRORS

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) presents William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. The show will be performed on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, through April 8, 2012.

Curtain times are Tuesday at 7 pm; Wednesday–Friday at 8 pm; selected Wednesday matinees at 1:30 pm; Saturday matinees at 5 pm; selected Saturday nights at 9 pm; Sunday matinees at 2 pm; and selected Sunday evenings at 7 pm.

Ticket prices start at just $16 (previews) and $19 (regular performances). To purchase, visit The Rep Box Office, located inside the Loretto-Hilton Center, charge by phone by calling (314) 968-4925, or visit The Rep's Online Box Office at http://www.repstl.org.

Major sponsorship for this production is provided by Boeing and Edward Jones.

The Rep's production of The Comedy of Errors is a part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

Mistaken identities, outlandish disguises and musical merriment take two sets of twins on a raucous journey through the streets of New Orleans in one of Shakespeare's cleverest comedies. Antipholus has no idea his long-lost twin brother has arrived in town, not to mention that his servant, Dromio, apparently has a long-lost twin as well. When all four converge on the Big Easy for Mardi Gras, events take a hilarious turn in a comic adventure of madcap mayhem.

Shakespeare found inspiration for The Comedy of Errors in Menaechmi, written by the ancient Roman playwright Plautus. The Bard added a few more characters, but the essential plot was the one written centuries earlier. The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare's only true "city" comedy, based on the classic form set out by Plautus. Because Rome was a big city, the dramaturgy of comedy was in keeping with the spirit of a big city-lots of people, lots of money, confusion of identity, cooks, courtesans and amorous young men.

The Rep's production of The Comedy of Errors is directed by Paul Mason Barnes (Macbeth), whose past production won critical acclaim at Great River Shakespeare Festival.

The cast of The Comedy of Errors at The Rep is Aaron Orion Baker as Jailer/Officer; Tina Fabrique (last seen in Ella) as Abbess; Michael Fitzpatrick as Antipholus of Ephesus; Tarah Flanagan (last seen in Saint Joan) as Adriana; Kate Fonville as Luciana; Ryan Fonville as Merchant/Reveler; Evan Fuller as Luce; Shanara Gabrielle (last seen in Macbeth) as Courtesan/Reveler; Christopher Gerson (last seen in Saint Joan) as Dromio of Ephesus; Kurt Hellerich as Agador; Christopher Hickey (last seen in Macbeth) as Balthasar/Nell; Walter Hudson (last seen in Amadeus) as Duke of Ephesus; Adrianna Jones as Schoolgirl/Reveler; Dakota Mackey-McGee as Citizen/Reveler; Chris Mixon as Antipholus of Syracuse; Thomas Eric Morris as Citizen/Reveler; Joey Otradovec as Citizen/Reveler; Jim Poulos (last seen in Amadeus) as Angelo/Reveler; ChrisTina Ramirez as Citizen/Reveler; Doug Scholz-Carlson as Dromio of Syracuse; Jerry Vogel (last seen in Macbeth) as Dr. Pinch/Ensemble; Jack Forbes Wilson as Harry/Merchant and Lenny Wolpe as Egeon.

The creative staff also includes Erik Paulson, set designer; Margaret E. Weedon, costume designer; Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz, lighting designer; Rusty Wandall, sound designer; Jack Forbes Wilson, musical director/arranger; Glenn Dunn, stage manager; and Tony Dearing, assistant stage manager.

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