Set in a place much like the Arcata Plaza, at an event much like the Farmers Market, Dell’Arte puts an original twist on Shakespeare’s outrageous farce THE COMMEDY of ERRORS to open the 2013 Mad River Festival.

Two sets of twins, mistaken identities, death threats, fish mongers, a lesbian awakening, several beatings, trades gone wrong, an attempted exorcism, a pissed off hooker, indoor grow fires, many mistaken identities, live music and songs from the hot Plaza band, the infamous bar row with the smoking gauntlet, and those special hula hoopers, jugglers, plaza dancers, and organic arugula sellers that fuel it all. Shakespeare meets Theatre of Place at Dell’Arte. And if he’s not rolling in his grave, he is at least readjusting his position. Featuring Joan Schirle as twins, Michael Fields as an new age exorcist (type casting), and a company of virtuosic physical performers who populate a slapstick, eco-groovy world that is always just a hair's breadth from catastrophe. A magic place where high aspirations clash with commerce in an ideal, natural setting. Imagine what it would be like if everyone else was mad and we alone were sane, but taken to be mad. Welcome to "The Comedy of Errors."

The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and her servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twins, Antipholus of Ephesus and her servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession.