THE COMEDY OF ERRORS by Shakespeare. Royal Lyceum to 17 November
Edinburgh
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
by William Shakespeare
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh To 17 November 2001
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS 0131 248 4848
Review Timothy Ramsden 24 October 2001
Fun for all in Shakespeare's early comedy, given a local habitation at the Royal Lyceum.This is Shakespeare's least Shakespearean play – what from anyone less exalted might be termed juvenilia. Its punctuation-bound verse and sacrifice of character development to plot means directors have either treated it as a genre piece – turning it into a musical or pumping in Keystone Cops mayhem – or spiced it with modern settings. Occasionally, productions have tried mining the play for thematic depth by jettisoning the comedy to emphasise the alienation and confusion of strangers in a mad landscape.
So the first strength of Tony Cownie's finely acted Royal Lyceum production is the individual line he's taken. Comedy comes up fresh in his moderately irreverent treatment (there's a delicious Shakespeare- quote-stuffed song to start act two). Antipholus and his servant Dromio from Syracuse land in the hostile city of Ephesus, having luckily been tipped off not to let on where they're from. At the Lyceum, Ephesus has a strong resemblance to Edinburgh's Old Town. It's not only the architecture. There's a member of the law-enforcing Watch whose stern disapproval of anything like revelry marks him out as a John Knox adherent.
As they don't know they both have twin brothers, also master and servant, in Ephesus, the pair are repeatedly subjected to unexpected greetings, unmissable bargain offers and an invite home to dinner from friendly locals. Cownie lets us laugh at the pair's surprise, repeatedly adding greetings from the odd passer-by or shouts from merrymakers offstage down one of the wynds suggested by Hayden Griffin's set.
If anything is downplayed by Cownie's handling of the play it's the treatment of Egeon, the captured Syracusan merchant who faces death yet ends up finding a family and a ducal pardon. The stronger his danger registers the more it offsets the subsequent frolics. And the confusion over the visiting Antipholus' sudden apparent switch of affection from his wife to her sister could count for more. But overall, there are precious few errors and a full measure of comedy.
Duke of Ephesus: Barrie Hunter
Egeon: Robert Paterson
Abbess/Nell: Carol Ann Crawford
Antipholus of Ephesus: Tom McGovern
Antipholus of Syracuse: Jimmy Chisholm
Dromio of Ephesus: Mark McDonnell
Dromio of Syracuse: Steven McNicoll
Adriana: Julie Duncanson
Luciana: Cora Bissett
Angelo/Dr Pinch: Ronnie Simon
1st Merchant/Officer: Garry Collins
2nd Merchant: Jordan Young
Courtesan: Susy Kane
Musician: Andi Neate
Guards: Dan Travis/Ben Clifford/James Devoy
Landlord: John Glancy
Ladies of the Night: Caroline Hay/Sarah MacGillivray
Woman: Ruth Crighton
Director: Tony Cownie
Designer: Hayden Griffin
Costume: Shirley Robinson
Lighting: Andy Phillips
Composer: Iain Johnstone
Choreographer: Malcolm Shields
2001-11-05 17:17:21