In the depths of winter, as we wait
impatiently for the days to lengthen and spring to arrive, we need something to
make us feel more cheerful.
What better than one of
Shakespeare’s most light-hearted comedies?
The first known performance of The Comedy of Errors was in 1594 as part
of the Twelfth Night revels before the lawyers of Gray’s Inn.
Based on two works by the Roman
playwright Plautus, Shakespeare’s play depicts a society in which normal social
and commercial relations break down as a result of a series of unforeseen
coincidences.
The plot revolves around two pairs
of twins who have been separated as babies, and a husband and wife who have
both resigned themselves to the other being lost forever.
Needless to say, when everyone turns
up in the same place at the same time errors and misunderstandings multiply at
a furious rate.
It is the most classic of farces,
but one where the comedy is underpinned by a deep appreciation of what it means
for twins to grow up apart from each other, a feeling of being without an
essential part of oneself.
In this early play Shakespeare tried
out many themes to which he later returned. The close relationship between the
main female character Adriana and her sister Luciana is a forerunner of that
between the cousins Rosalind and Celia in As
You Like It. Mistaken identity was to be reworked with the twins Viola and
Sebastian in Twelfth Night and long-lost
spouses figure in The Winter’s Tale.
Masters of farce like Feydeau or
Brian Rix would have felt at home with the twists and turns of the story, but
it is not a style that we necessarily associate with Shakespeare.
An audience in 16th
Century England
would have found the setting exotic. Ephesus is a
maritime city state, ruled by a Duke and in conflict with the rival state of Syracuse. But the
characters and their dilemmas are universal and readily recognisable. Masters
have problems with cheeky servants, a wife is convinced her husband is having
an affair and a spinster is almost resigned to being left on the shelf. A schoolmaster,
a prostitute and merchants are some of the others who make up the populace of
this teeming city.
How does the play stand up today?
Our director Sue Solomon says it has
never lost its popularity and place in the repertoire, because it combines both
verbal and physical fun and is designed to appeal to a wide range of theatre-goers.
Modern audiences seem to find no
difficulty with either the plot or the language and enjoy the swift pace of a
play that is considerably shorter than many of Shakespeare’s other works.
So even though it may not be as well-known as
the more famous comedies, The Comedy of
Errors should prove an accessible and welcome antidote to those post-Christmas
blues!