Not-So-Easy Errors
Sunday, May 11th by scott malia
A theatre company in New Jersey is currently performing Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Although not among my favorites, it holds a significant place in Shakespeare’s oeuvre and in dramatic literature as a whole. It is one of Shakespeare’s earliest efforts as well as one of his shortest, and it was both highly influential upon later works and highly influenced by those that preceded it.
For inspiration, Shakespeare went back to the comedies of Ancient Rome (one of many reasons why people believe he was not educated enough to be able to write what he did). Shakespeare used the plots of not one but two comedies by Plautus to create The Comedy of Errors, the most significant inspiration coming from The Menaechmi (which also features a mistaken identity plot involving twins).
This particular production earned high marks for its casting, particularly the actors playing the two sets of twins with the same name (Antipholus and Dromio). One of the unique challenges of the play is to make non-twin actors believable as identical twins. Not only do the actors have to resemble each other physically, they must also mirror each other’s vocal patterns and physical mannerisms. As is often the case, this production features a significant amount of slapstick comedy, a nod to the play’s raucous origins. Therein is the challenge of The Comedy of Errors. It is a very simple story that demands an extremely high level of technical ability from its actors
May 13th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
A couple of summers ago I saw “Comedy” at the Idaho Repertory Theatre and it was a HOOT! It was set in the 1960s Caribbean, and the actors who played the sets of twins were somewhat similar in looks, but rather than try desperately to make these guys look alike, rather they played on the hilarity of “Why on earth would someone really mistake these guys for one another?!?!” The actors and actresses all had a great command of the language and were clearly at home with Shakespeare’s text - It was a wonderful production!
May 16th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I saw this last night. It was fantastic theater! A perfect example of how these plays are scripts for theater. On the page I find C of E tedious. On stage, well acted, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Cheers to NJ Shakespeare.