COMEDY OF ERRORS.

COMEDY OF ERRORS: William Shakespeare.
RSC Main House.
Runs: 2h 30m, one interval.
Review: Rod Dungate, 28 July 2005.

Triumphant dreamlike, grotesque, comic.
Nancy Meckler and her team have mined a deep vein of dark dreaming to create this triumphant production. When the luckless Egeon moors up in Ephesus he finds himself in a disturbing world of grotesque and grotesquely comic people; people who are extravagant in dress, manner, gesture and speech. These are people who will hang you for coming from somewhere else, where top-hatted police are ever present to arrest you, and where people think they are married to you when you've never met them before. How we sympathise with Dromio (Syracuse) when he thinks the place is inhabited by witches and goblins.

This is a land where nothing is as it seems, where anything can happen and where, or course, it does happen. Meckler draws her inspiration from many sources, real and fictional, and with consummate intelligence and attention to minute detail, moulds them together in a satisfying whole. At one moment characters speak to each other in the way of dramatic psychological realism, at another they're having hysterical slanging matches, at another they are engaged in physical knock-about clowning.

But just as a clown must never lose touch with the real world, so neither do these characters. A great achievement in this preposterously plotted play.

Towering over all in this marvellously strong company is Joe Dixon's Antipholus of Syracuse. Have you ever wondered why Antipholus can't work out what's going on he has, after all, gone in search of his twin brother? Dixon suggests a two-fold answer he's not terribly bright and he's not really lived in the real world (presumably having been spoilt by his merchant father.) At times Dixon seems to be operating his voice and movement separately, giving him this oddly other-worldly feel. And watch his mood swings, see the way he uses his body, his eyes, the way he orchestrates his speeches; no finger, it seems, moves without purpose. It's a performance of breathtaking mastery. You want to get up on stage and hug him and say 'It's all going to be alright.' The only thing that stops you, in fact, is that you're on the floor weak with laughter.

Both the Dromios match this level to discover which is which watch their sleeves. Forbes Masson (Ephesus) and Jonathan Slinger (Syracuse) are perfect foils for their masters' whims, and the relationships they create with the Antipholus brothers are true bonds. The long duologue between Syracusian Antipholus and Dromio about the kitchen fiancée is hilarious each leading the other on to ever greater hyperbole. It's terribly unsound, but who cares, I'd love to see it again.

Richard Cordery's northern Egeon is beautifully solid, a perfect outsider in this mad world. Christopher Colquhoun's suave, blokey, Antipholus of Ephesus is a marvellous contrast to his twin brother too. Suzanne Burden's Adriana brings strength, hysteria and a good measure comedic skill to the role of Adriana.

Much of the rich comedy in this production stems from people's reactions to what's going on, either individually or as a group. No story is told without it being backed-up (actively backed-up) by a crowd of onlookers. For this much credit must go to, I suspect, Clive Mendus, credited with Chorus Work.

With this production (and with the Sejanus that opened the night before) the RSC is back on absolute top form.

Antipholus of Ephesus: Christopher Colquhoun.
Dromio of Ephesus: Forbes Masson.
Adriana: Suzanne Burden.
Luciana: Sinead Keenan.
Luce: Bettrys Jones.
Messenger: Devin Trainor.
Egeon: Richard Cordery.
Antipholus of Syracuse: Joe Dixon.
Dromio of Syracuse: Jonathan Slinger.
Emilia: Frances Jeater.
Silinus: Neil McKinven.
1st Merchant: Christopher Robert.
2nd Merchant: Christopher Obi.
Angelo: Oscar Pearce.
Balthasar: Geoffrey Lumb.
Courtesan: Diveen Henry.
Dr Pinch: Tom Hodgkins.
Pinch's Assistant: Alice Barclay.
Officer: Eke Chukwu.
Puppeteer: Stewart W Fraser.

Directed by: Nancy Meckler.
Designed by: Katrina Lindsay.
Lighting designed by: Tim Mitchell.
Music Composed by: Ilona Sekacz.
Sound designed by: Andrea J Cox.
Movement by: Liz Ranken.
Director of puppetry: Mervyn Millar.
Fight director: Malcolm Ranson.
Chorus work: Clive Mendus.
Assistant Director: Phillip Breen.
Music director: John Woolf.
Company voice work by: Lyn Darnley and Jacquie Crago.

2005-07-28 11:49:22