The Comedy of Errors. Let’s face it: No one’s ever going to put this work on the list of Shakespeare’s great comedies. Still, apart from the requisite head-scratching required by the Bard’s grammar, there’s not much deep thought to be wasted at this year’s free Shakespeare-in-the-Park program, the sixth annual summertime treat presented by the Syracuse Shakespeare Festival. If the weather cooperates, the crowds happily sprawled across the huge lawn at Thornden Park’s amphitheater are at liberty to enjoy Shakespeare as the host of a big family party.

Director Jamie Bruno has appropriately staged what is arguably the silliest of Shakespeare’s plays as a sort of Three Stooges extravaganza, shamelessly stealing moves from the playbook of Curly, Larry and Moe, with a little bit of Shemp thrown in for good luck. And why not? Shakespeare did a hefty bit of stealing himself, lifting the plot of The Comedy of Errors from a couple of Roman plays. In turn, Errors has inspired a number of other shows, among them The Boys From Syracuse with its lovely Rodgers and Hart score and badly dated book, and the hip-hop musical The Bomb-itty of Errors, mounted last spring by Syracuse Stage.

Like many of the Bard’s comedies, The Comedy of Errors begins with a shipwreck. Two sets of infant twins, the sons of the merchant Egeon and the sons of his slave, are separated in the confusion. Egeon rescues one of his boys, named Antipholus, and the slave child Dromio, taking them home to that other Syracuse—the one in Sicily. The other two, also named Antipholus and Dromio, end up in Ephesus, where they grow up, somehow maintaining the master-slave relationship. When the Syracusans show up in Ephesus searching for their long-lost siblings, they run afoul of the good citizens of that city—among them the other Antipholus’ formidable wife, Adriana, and her sister Luciana.

At Thornden Park, the pre-show activities take on a Renaissance faire ambience, with actors wandering about the green enthusiastically working the audience. Once on stage, the cast throws itself into the play with wild abandon. Even when jokes occasionally fall flat, the comic bits are executed with such gusto that all is quickly forgiven. Throw around enough pratfalls, nose-twisting and ear-pulling, and some of it is bound to stick.