Following the fall musical, the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, this year’s spring play, “The Bomb-itty of Errors” added another outstanding performance to the list. It was Mason’s most risque play yet, including many sexual references and innuendos that stunned the audience, but at the same time sparked laughter. Although it was funny to audience members, it is safe to say that“The Bombitty of Errors” is definitely a PG-13 play.
The play was a modern-day twist on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” however incorporated rap and hip-hop inspired dances to give it a more contemporary feeling.
The storyline followed two sets of identical twins, Dromio of Syracuse (played by junior Austin Yoder) and Dromio of Ephesus (played by junior Alec Reusch) and Antipholus of Syracuse (played by sophomore Michael Curtin) and Antipholus of Ephesus (played by sophomore Braxton Puentes).
Never having met before, the four brothers had no idea that they had identical twins on the other side of the country. So when Dromio and Antipholus of Syracuse came to town, complications began to rise because they kept being mistaken as the Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus. With this identity crisis, the brothers get in legal trouble, upset each other’s love interests, and deal with betrayal and broken promises.
At the same time, sisters Luciana (played by junior Sarah Edwards) and Adrianna (played by junior Justine Stolworthy) were two love interests of both Antipholus’ twins.
Antipholus of Ephesus was married to Adrianna, but when his twin brother, Antipholus of Syracuse, came to town he started to fall for Luciana after just meeting her. Antipholus of Syracuse, with the help of backup dancers, shocked the audience by singing Luciana a racy serenade and taking his shirt off halfway through the song in hopes to seduce her.
Though both Adrianna and Luciana thought that Antipholus of Ephesus was cheating on Adrianna with Luciana because they were not aware that there were two Ephesus brothers (twins).
In addition to the serenading by Curtin, the play featured a disturbing cop, played by senior Jackson Rands, who used a banana as a gun and had pedophilic tendencies with the other characters. It also featured a stereotypical Jewish rabbi, MC Hendelberg, played by junior Peter Carr, whose Jewish jokes and lack of a sense of humor made him the humorous target. Junior Essence Bailey played Dr. Pinch, a “herbal”doctor with a thick Jamaican accent and freshman Miles Jackson played Bobby, an awkward bike messenger who was the only character that couldn’t rap to save his life. This was only a short list of the many characters who each brought a unique edge that led to the play’s success.
The backup dancers kept the whole show together not only through their impressively choreographed dances, but also by acting as a chorus. Their perfect synchronization in the background led to the engagement of the crowd
In the end, the sets of twins, Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus, and Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus ran into each other after a chaotic chase scene. They learned that their mother, Betty (played by junior Izabel Julazadeh), became a nun after she had to give them up for adoption because she couldn’t afford to provide for them all. Antipholus of Syracuse and Luciana ended up getting married, Antipholus of Ephesus and Adrianna finally made up after they learned that the cheating scare was the result of the identity conflict, and the Dromios realized the importance of brotherhood and became closer.
The play was run completely in rap or song and while the pace was hard to keep up with at first, the crowd got used to it and forgot the fact that they were listening to a rap of 90 minutes. It was unlike any Mason play before and showcased the unexpected rapping talent of their performers. The hard work of the cast and crew was evident through the high quality their performances. The theatre department certainly gave Mason a “bomb-itty” of unforgettable shows.
