Chicago Shakespeare Theater: The Comedy of Errors

"Have you ever felt like a stranger somewhere?"

SAM LINDA (Dromio of Ephesus) “My first few weeks of college were rough. I lost my phone, hated my dorm, was terrified about speaking in any of my classes, and had no idea where anything was. This experience was shared by many of my peers, but all of us had too much pride to admit that we were lost and scared and friendless. I have to wonder what may have happened if we all stopped pretending like we knew exactly what was going on.”

PHOEBE GONZÁLEZ (Luciana) “The school I went to growing up offered an incredible education, but sometimes made me feel uncomfortable. As my peers talked about their vacations abroad and showed up to every dance in new dresses, school buses avoided my neighborhood and I got the sense that my family was different. I love my family and I’m proud of where I come from, but sometimes it was really painful to feel like an outsider in this way.”

IAN MARYFIELD (Dromio of Syracuse) “Growing up I moved around A LOT— 15 times to be exact (10 times before 9th grade in 7 different schools…)— so feeling like a stranger is something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was hard and still is, I’m not gonna lie. But what helped, and still helps me, is finding people with similar goals and dreams.”

NIMA RAKHSHANIFAR (Angelo) “I moved to Chicago five months ago. My second day here I was whacked in the head by a red-winged blackbird. Stunned, I looked around to see if anybody had noticed (they hadn't), and I was overwhelmed with loneliness, homesickness, and otherness. I felt unable to communicate with people around me, so I searched the internet to learn about the red-winged blackbird and how they whack other animals in the head if they get too close to the nest. I know that the more I continue to learn, the better I’ll be able to relate to this new community where I am still a stranger.”

LILLIAN CASTILLO (Troupe Manager / Courtesan / Emilia) “When my family first moved to the States from the island of Puerto Rico I not only felt like a stranger, I felt like an outsider. The language barrier was a real challenge and I was small, so it was easy for bigger kids to gang up on me. It took a long time for me to create a new family of friends. I was a determined little thing then and knew that if some people just got to know me better they would stop seeing me as “other” or “weird” and maybe they would like me.”

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