March 13, 14, and 15
The Agassiz Theatre

     Plautus’ Roman comedy Menaechmi, (the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors and Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), is a thrilling medley of song and satire, a farcical comedy bubbling over with crazed stock characters, absurd coincidences, and wild confrontations that haven’t aged a bit over the past two millennia to date. Far from evoking the stuffy reality which some believe to characterize ancient drama, the play is in fact a bawdy pageant of mistaken identities and hilarious misunderstandings that have charmed audiences for over 2000 years.

This production of the Menaechmi marks the return of the Harvard Classical Club to the public stage, following a tradition of staging Greek and Roman plays in the original language since 1885. Following in the footsteps of the Classical Club’s production of the same play in 1930, a group of enthusiastic students has painstaking translated the Roman drama into vigorous modern English prose, and punctuated the text with original melodies and sung Latin medleys to preserve the sense of the original comedy. Long lost twin brothers, a crazy cook, a conniving prostitute and a shrewish wife add up to one night of rollicking Roman fun in the Agassiz Theatre this spring!

Tickets are $5 and are available through the Harvard Box Office to be purchased in person at the Holyoke Center Arcade, by phone at 617-496-2222, or on their website by clicking on the logo below. Seating is General Admission and there is Wheelchair access.

Directions:

From South of Boston:
Take I-93 North to exit 26 (Cambridge/Storrow Drive)
Keep left at end of ramp and take underpass to Storrow Drive
Continue on Storrow Drive approximately 4 miles to Cambridge/Allston
Turn right at end of ramp onto JFKennedy Street
Harvard Square is approximately 1/2 mile straight ahead
Continue with directions #1 

From North of Boston:
Take I-93 South to exit 26 (Storrow Drive/North Station)
Keep left at end of ramp and take underpass to Storrow Drive
Continue on Storrow Drive approximately 4 miles to Cambridge/Allston
Turn right at end of ramp onto JFKennedy Street
Harvard Square is approximately 1/2 mile straight ahead
Continue with directions below #1 

From West of Boston:
Take I-90 East (Mass Turnpike) to exit 18 (Cambridge/Allston)
Bear right after toll booth at end of exit ramp
Turn left after lights (before the bridge) onto Storrow Drive
Take Cambridge/Allston exit (1/2 mile ahead) and turn right at endof  ramp onto JFKennedy Street
Harvard Square is approximately 1/2 mile straight ahead
Continue with directions #1

#1 From the Heart of Harvard Square:
The Coop is on the left, Out-of-Town News on the right.
Continue Forward on what is now Massachusetts Ave, stay in the middle
lane. At the next light (Harvard Yard is on your right) stay to the left. This will turn you around so you are heading back into Harvard Square. At the lights stay to the right so that Cambridge Commons are on your right. At the next set of lights take a left so that Radcliffe Yard is on your right. Agassiz Theatre is inside Radcliffe Yard.

Meetings will be announced over the Classical Club email list. 

The 1906 production of Agamemnontook place in Harvard Stadium complete with pyrotechnics, chariots, andauthentic costumes. The presidents of over a dozen universities,the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Sen. Henry CabotLodge attended the unparalleled performance, which still gives its name to the Agamemnon Fund, which continues to aid in the production of classical performances.