What do you get when you mix Shakespeare with old-school, down-and-dirty hip hop? Probably either a laugh riot or a train wreck. Thankfully, Belfry’s The Bomb-itty of Errors is the former.
Set in modern-day New York City, Bomb-itty loosely follows the plot of Shakespeare’s original Comedy of Errors, plus some of the writer’s own flair. Two sets of identical twins, separated at birth but hilariously named the same way, find each other on the same mean streets, confusing wives, lovers, prostitutes, and themselves.
Bombitty’s cast is fantastic, and it’s not until the final curtsey that you realize that five actors performed the entirety of the play. The company worked well together, not only in the directing of the play but also its choreography, with players jumping over, under, and around each other with the ease of gymnasts.
The play’s original script is hilariously reworked from Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter to a street-savvy set of rhymes, while retaining much of the eloquence of the original. Still, the true magnificence of the script is in its delivery.
Each of the actors is excellent in the rapping of their lines, accompanied by original music from the always-present DJ standing centre stage. While you certainly don’t need to know hip hop to enjoy the play, don’t go expecting an original script with an occasional rhyme. The entirety of the play, minus a handful of lines, is rapped.
Bomb-itty remains true to Shakespeare’s style beyond the script, too. Much of the play is a hilariously politically incorrect romp, which, while poking fun at many groups, may offend some very sensitive audience members.
My one gripe with the play was the way that the playwright chose to recreate the ending; it felt forced and untrue to the original classic.
The Bomb-itty of Errors is a hilarious play, which, while based on an amalgamation of old-school hip hop and Elizabethan theatre, requires a deep knowledge of neither and will leave you liking both.
The Bomb-itty of Errors
Until August 24
$23 and up, Belfry Theatre
belfry.bc.ca