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There are few places where you can truly be yourself and yet also become someone entirely different. Comic conventions and the stage are both perfect examples of these rare meccas, where such dual experiences happen all the time. The first time I attended a Con in Boston was so similar to the first time I put on a costume and recited a playwright’s words. When you set foot in a giant space filled from floor to ceiling with pure fiction? There’s such pure delight in that moment, where you don’t have to filter or tone down your excitement for characters or worlds that matter so much to you, because you are guaranteed to meet so many other people in that space who feel the same way. If you ever want to be surrounded by thousands of people who love what you love – who deeply care about art and life as much as you do – then you will find your home in a theater, and at a comic convention.

So what better madness could I dive into than combining them? Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, a play where reality blurs around the edges? Where families (of various definitions) can find each other again? Where someone might run into a person who wears a familiar face but remains a total stranger? Sounds like a Con to me! I was surprised – and rather gleeful – when I realized I’d never heard of any Shakespeare productions who’d done this before.

The ideas flowed swiftly after that, such as which character belonged in which costume, and which references I could stick into the dialogue and slapstick fights. I find that the more you love a project, the easier it is to pour your creativity into it, like adding more chocolate chips into the mixing bowl of your homemade cookie recipe. There’s been no shortage of amazing ideas from my cast and crew, either! Many of the gags you’ll see today are theirs, because there were many times in rehearsal where I shouted “Keep it!”, barely managing to control my laughter as they came up with these things on the fly. I think if you want the true definition of “theater nerds,” you’ll see a picture of all of us in the dictionary now.

All in all, I want to dedicate this show to everyone who enjoys stories, whether they be in comics, movies, tv shows, books, games, or on the stage. To anyone who has ever geeked out and loved something with a passion, this show is to celebrate you and all that you love about your fandom. Live long and prosper.

--Director Katy Carter