The Comedy of Errors
RST, 12th September 2012
I
wasn’t sure if I’d seen this one before but knew the general pretext; mistaken identities,
shipwreck, riotously funny and not necessarily in that order. The RSC’s current production is launched
alongside ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘The Tempest’ as being a shipwreck trilogy. Hmmmm.
We
were up high, in the upper circle as they euphemistically call it now. I sat next to an old chap who talked loudly
about how much he hoped the play would not be in ‘modern dress’. This does seem to be a pre-occupation with
the older audience members – what does it mean?
Surely they don’t think that all Shakespeare’s plays should be performed
in Elizabethan costume? And for the
first ten minutes of the performance he muttered a lot, presumably not
impressed by the 1970s shiny suits and military uniforms of the cast.
The
opening scene introduced us to Egeon being interrogated and tortured by the
Duke. Sandy Grierson, who played the
Duke, has a broad Scottish accent. I
know we’re meant to embrace cultural differences on the stage but I could not
make out what he was saying. Anyway, it
was unpleasant seeing old man Egeon’s head plunged into a fish tank every few
minutes; very Tarrantinoesque. But then,
it’s quite a dark play and you would be forgiven for thinking that you might be
in for some dark humour. The setting of
Ephesus is a brutal and militarised state of fierce commerce where all
interlopers are assassinated; this being the intended fate of Egeon. However, what he tells the Duke, about his
quest for his long-lost son, his son’s servant and his own wife sets the scene
for the play’s action. For that reason,
you don’t need to worry too much that you can’t understand anything that the
Duke says; he is of less importance to plot.
And
so we encounter Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse as they sneak into Ephesus
where, unbeknownst to them, their twin brothers have been living a life of
prosperity as master and servant, unaware that they each have twin
brothers. Well, this is Shakespeare so
one is trying very hard to suspend disbelief but this is early
Shakespeare. Indeed, it would be fair to
say that by the time he got to ‘Twelfth Night’, he had perhaps perfected this
particular genre of play. By that, I
mean, perhaps he had made it funny. ‘Twelfth
Night’ possesses charm which is why it is widely performed. Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Ague-Cheek and
Malvolio are amusing creations who feed off one another in a comedic triumvirate.
In
‘The Comedy of Errors’ we have the Dromio servants. In this production they are played by Bruce
MacKinnon and Felix Hayes. The greatest
achievement in this casting is that both men look remarkably similar which aids
the confusion over identity. Felix Hayes’s
Dromio of Ephesus is like some sort of Little Britain creation of camp idiocy
while Bruce MacKinnon plays the slightly less extravagant twin, Dromio of
Syracuse. Both are dressed like Where’s
Wally. They looked silly and if you
think that people falling over and being hit over the head is funny, as the
vast number of Americans clearly did, then you’re in for a real treat. Americans, it seems are not content to
chuckle quietly to themselves when amused but feel it necessary to clap and whoop. The old chap and I sat stolidly still, arms
folded, refusing to join in with this riotous behaviour. ‘It’s not a bloody pantomime!’ I thought to myself; I’m sure that the old
chap would have agreed with my sentiments.
Kirsty
Bushell as Adriana amused me more with her take on wifely neurosis, as she
spiralled into a hysterical banshee when confronted with the confounding
behaviour of her husband. The odd bit of
slapstick when she assaulted her husband’s courtesan made me smile; but only
smile. To denote a change of scene to
Antipholus and Adriana’s house, a huge platform was winched onto stage by a
great industrial pulley, where it hovered so that the predominately female
scenes could take place. This was very
clever. Scenery on the whole was very
clever. A pirouette with a door allowed
the audience to see actors on both sides when Antipholus of Ephesus is locked
out of his house and Dromio of Syracuse is being seduced by the giant Nell on
the other side of the door. Sarah
Belcher wore a very effective fat suit for this part and succeeded in looking a
lot like Dawn French but not as funny.
So,
you might have gathered that I didn’t find it that funny. It’s a stupid play and I can only assume that
when The Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed it most of the humour came from men
dressed as women as there is patently nothing funnier in life, either four
hundred years ago or today. The play is mercifully
short; the first half only an hour long, the second less than an hour. The second half, as we hurtled towards
resolution, is much more enjoyable and it’s an adequate effort but I would like
to see a much darker take on it next time.
