A Comedy of Errors did a lot of things correctly – A Review

4 stars

While I am familiar with Shakespeare, my knowledge is broadly limited to his tragic works like Macbeth and Othello. As such, I admittedly knew very little about ‘A Comedy of Errors’ until last night. Fortunately, for all its absurdity the play was fairly easy to follow.

I went into opening night of the European Theatre Group’s production essentially blind. I left understanding why Shakespeare is considered a master of both the comic and tragic genres.

The story follows two sets of long-lost identical twins. Chaos and confusion ensue when all the twins find themselves together on the island of Ephesus, each being mistaken for their identical counterpart. Following a series of arrests, fights, and professions of love, all ends happily with both twins reuniting and every misunderstanding being explained.

It is bizarre but incredibly good fun!

The staging is minimal and the cast is small but there is never an empty or lifeless moment in the play. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The entire cast had great physicality, really taking advantage of Shakespeare’s use of slapstick comedy and dynamic dialogue. Even when in the background of scenes, characters are still interesting to watch. They interact with each other. They interact with the audience. They show us their thoughts and emotions. We remember they exist even if they are not the focus of the scene. All of this work put in by the actors really brought the show to life.

The standout performances are Lizzy Riley’s Luciana and Gaby Albertelli’s Dromio of Ephesus. Both actresses are responsible for some of the funniest moments in the show. They made the most of the script, leaning into the ridiculousness of it all while never becoming too over the top.

However, the show was not without ‘errors’, although this is perhaps fitting given the name. Before the play began, the cast introduced themselves and stated that this production would not be taking the play too seriously. This, of course, does make sense for a light-hearted comedy but perhaps they were too serious about not being serious … At times the melodramatics felt excessive and almost distracting. Merchant 2 being played by a seagull hand puppet voiced by Angelo immediately springs to mind as an example. I admire them for making a bold choice, but I don’t think it’s one I can get behind any time soon.

That being said, there was still much to enjoy about this production. While it could do with some more grounded moments, it was refreshing, hilarious, and had an electrifying cast. It’s also quite accessible if you’re a Shakespeare first-timer.