Unfortunately, I was a little sad to see more than a few empty seats on the opening night in Bath. | "I think the cast did well to remember which twin was on stage, let alone the audience!" | |
The performance began with masked characters setting the scene on stage and entertaining the audience with magic tricks. Not one to be easily impressed with magic (especially the kind that involves audience participation - I was so relieved not to be sitting in the front row), even I have to admit the tricks and illusions were pretty amazing. The magic interludes continued throughout the play, providing a fresh and dynamic way of moving the action along rather than the traditional lights down, off-stage approach. Mistaken identity The Comedy of Errors is believed to be Shakespeare's first play; it is also one of the shortest. The plot is based around several instances of that Shakespeare favourite - mistaken identity. The main characters are two sets of identical twins, both present in the city of Ephesus but mutually unaware of each other's existence. With little prior knowledge of the play, it was initially hard to follow which characters were which, especially given their identical costumes. At times I think the cast did well to remember which twin was on stage, let alone the audience! However once I got used to the subtle differences between twins the farcical comedy really came to life. Downright bawdy I was impressed by the range of the humour in this production, from downright bawdy, to slapstick, to witty banter. From start to finish, the comedy was impeccably timed and well executed. The slapstick fun came mainly from Darren Gilshenan and Ed Wightman as the two Dromios - obvious crowd pleasers but nonetheless my favourites on the night. The Antipholus twins played by Sean O'Shea and Christopher Stollery expertly conveyed the confusion and delivered some hilarious one-liners. The hysterical ramblings of fiery Adriana (Blazey Best) were delivered superbly, and her relationship with sister Luciana (Jody Kennedy) provided a somewhat welcome change in comedic direction. This play really gets under your skin as you watch the chaos and confusion escalate. With each new twist it alternately entertains and irritates, the resounding "OH!" when the secrets are finally revealed couldn't be longer in coming. This production was thoroughly entertaining and I would recommend it to anyone, Shakespeare fan or otherwise. Its main appeal is definitely the humour, but with such top quality actors, magic touches and even a little romance thrown in, there should be something for everyone! | 
