The Comedy of Errors (Vol. 26) | R. A. Foakes (essay date 1962)
R. A. Foakes (essay date 1962)
SOURCE: An introduction to The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, edited by R. A. Foakes, Methuen & Co Ltd., 1962, pp. xi-lv.
[In the following essay, Foakes discusses early accounts of The Comedy of Errors and notes important reviews of subsequent productions; his account spans the stage history from the play's premiere to Walter Hudd's truncated production at London's Old Vic in 1957.]
The Christmas Revels at Gray's Inn in 1594 included a performance of 'a Comedy of Errors' similar to the Menaechmi of Plautus, and related in some way to witchcraft, sorcery, and enchantment; the description of this night of revels preserved in Gesta Grayorum (1688) leaves little doubt that the play staged was Shakespeare's. Ten years later The Comedy of Errors was presented at Court, also as part of the Christmas festivities, and on the same day, 28 December, Innocents' Day, 1604. No other...
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