Summer’s lease hath
all too short a date ...
| Dylan Chace Lee | Dromio of Denmark / Dromio of Syracuse / Dr. Pinch / Ghost |
| Emily Steward | Hamlet of Denmark / Hamlet of Syracuse |
| Christine Lamborn | Adriana
/ Gertrude / Rosencrantz / Merchant / Nun |
| Hulita Drake | Ophelia
/ Claudius / Guildenstern / Ghost / Nun |
| Celia | Iris Feng |
| Gorgibus | Wil Kahele |
| Celia’s maid | Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak |
| Sganarelle | Daniel A. Kelin, II |
| Sganarelle’s wife | Lelea‘e Kahalepuna-Wong |
| Gros Rene | Brandon Hagio |
| Lelio | Kaipo Dudoit |
| Villebrequin | John Wat |
| Micah Souza | King Henry IV |
| Marilyn Bellinger | Margaret of Anjou |
| Sorcha McCarrey | Duchess of York / Lady Grey |
| Jonathan “Fenix” Saavedra | Lord Clifford |
| Austin Yoshida | George of Clarence |
| Dylan Leming | King Edward IV |
| Stuart Featheran | Richard, Duke of Gloucester (eventually Richard III) |
| Kaleialoha Froning | Rutland / Messenger / Prince Edward |
| Kekoakamaka‘alaaloha Froning | Soldier |
| Alaka‘i Cunningham | Soldier |
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play; Hamlet is his longest—mash them together and what do you get? The genre of Revenge-Comedy is born, with two too many twins, a murder most foul, and the quest to find one’s true family.
Despite their contrasting natures, Comedy of Errors and Hamlet have a plethora of overlapping themes: madness, identity, the supernatural, isolation, vengeance, family ties—to name a few. This made the process of combining the two into one story fairly seamless. In Comedy of Errors, for example, people begin to question Antipholus’ sanity after encountering his identical twin; in Hamlet, the titular character intentionally feigns madness to confuse people. The parallels in these storylines made this odd-couple pairing fit together like puzzle pieces. Characters of similar ilk were fused into one: Adriana takes on qualities (and lines) of Polonius and Laertes; the modest younger sisters Ophelia and Luciana become one; the Hamlets (one of Denmark, one of Syracuse) take after both the original Hamlet and the Antipholi twins; and Dromio of Denmark takes inspiration from the noble Horatio.
In this age of confusion and isolation, I think it’s important to find reasons to laugh and love. By hijacking Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy with his silliest farce, we defy the expected tragic ending and drag Hamlet (kicking and soliloquising) into the joyful realm of comedy.
—Malia Wessel
In his years teaching, creating, promoting and performing theater in Hawai‘i, Professor Knapp touched thousands of lives. While he tackled a wide variety of theatrical projects, it was Professor Knapp’s boundless joy for teaching and presenting Shakespeare that we hope to honor with this festival. It is our sincere wish that our affection and respect for our beloved teacher finds a voice in these productions. The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to Terence Knapp.
—R. Kevin Garcia Doyle, Tony Pisculli, Harry Wong III
Dame Judi Dench, Companion of Honour by the Queen’s personal gift and Britain’s Most Outstanding Actress (as voted by her peers) has consented to be the Patron of the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival at the invitation of Terence Knapp.