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A fun filled performance of misunderstandings beautifully delivered by an amazing cast. Summary
Rating
Excellent
Good old Shakespeare: if you find a trope that works, milk it for all its worth. Mistaken identity is a key feature of many of his plays but none more so than in The Comedy of Errors, where two sets of twins, separated by a shipwreck when infants, find themselves some years later as duplicate master and servant in the same land of Ephesus.
On a quest to find his sons, Egeon (Paul Rider) from Syracuse is about to be executed for daring to be found in Ephesus, unless he can find somebody to pay for his release. While we await Egeon’s fate, the entertainment begins, with one set of the characters Antipholus (Daniel Adeosun) and his servant Dromio (Martin Quinn) from Syracuse being confused time and again with another Antipholus (Caleb Roberts) and his servant Dromio (Sam Swann) from Ephesus. Both pairs of Antipholus and Dromio play the surprise and confusion they engender in the island’s inhabitants and their opposite pairs perfectly.
Much of the plot revolves around money and relationships, with the Dromios being entrusted with large sums of cash with which to buy a gold chain. The maker of the chain, owing money to a money lender and now not being able to pay, has Antipholus of Ephesus arrested and, given his supposedly strange behaviour, he is declared mad by the fantastically outrageous Pinch (Rhys Rusbatch). The long- suffering wife Adrianna (played by Gabrielle Brooks) and her sister Luciana (Shalisha James-Davis) thrive in the confusion not only of whose husband is the true husband, but which of them is now wooing the sister. All of the cast are exceptionally funny, with special mention to Christopher Logan for playing the trepidation and incredulity of Angelo, a man trying to recoup a debt from somebody who may be mad and to Danielle Phillips for just being downright hilarious. Hats off to Phoebe Naughton for the very believable swops in character from male to female and back again, with or without a moustache.
Some say that The Comedy of Errors should be played straight and the audience will find their entertainment in the absurdity of the situations, but the pure joy of this production is infectious and you can only wonder at the fun that the cast must enjoy amongst the sheer hard work. The slapstick nature of a performance like this doesn’t happen on its own and mentions must go to Maisie Carter for the fight scenes, and Glynn Macdonald and Tamsin Hurtado Clarke for the almost continuous movement. Paul Wills’ design work is also impressive,with the costumes simply perfect for the characters’ personalities. Let’s not forget the band of musicians either, who also play an integral part of any production at Shakespeare’s Globe.
As well as being very entertaining and uplifting, the darker themes of the play resonate and speak to us today. Families are still being separated by extremist regimes. Egeon is going to be executed just for being present in Ephesus. His family were on a boat that was shipwrecked and he was on a lifetime’s quest to find his son and his wife. There’s very little new in the world that Shakespeare hasn’t warned us about, but sometimes we all need to escape for an evening of fun and frolics and keep the reflection for the next day.
Directed by: Naeem Hayat and Sean Holmes
Produced by: Fay Powell-Thomas and Hattie Wheeler
The Comedy of Errors plays at Shakespeare’s Globe until 27 October. Further information and tickets available here.
