The Comedy of Errors – Bell Shakespeare at the SOH Playhouse
Here’s a little secret about Shakespeare. He loved mirrors. Any chance that came up in his plays to have characters reflected back to themselves in another person, he would grab it, and run with it, and riff on it, and turn it into a wild ride of carnival mirrors that eventually turns us, the audience, around to look at ourselves. The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earlier plays, when he was first figuring out all the different things that could be done with reflections. An absurd plot involving two sets of twins separated as babies, two masters and two servants, gave him the opportunity to ask us how well we know those we share our lives with.
But which one did I just snog?
Comedies are about communities. Tragedies and Histories are about who gets to rule a group of people, comedies are about what binds a group of people together, regardless of who is in charge. And so The Comedy of Errors lets us see right into the intimate space of people’s homes and their hearts. What will one sister who fears she may never be loved say to the other, who fears her husband’s love has strayed and been lost? How differently would the same man treat his servant if he is secure in his home town, or adrift with his servant his only companion? Would you risk your life to get your family back?
Most comedies are about love, but The Comedy of Errors is unusual in being interested in so many different kinds of love, and the many things that might trip it up. We don’t only watch a young couple get together, we see a married couple decide whether they are still a match, the sorrows of an older couple long separated, parents’ love for children, sister’s for sister, a brother’s longing for the other half to his whole. This play is brave enough to show that marriage has something to do with love, but its sustainability under pressure cannot be taken for granted. In this version, the wild comedy of repeatedly mistaken identities takes place over one crazy night in Kings Cross. A director with no fear, Imara Savage, takes the helm while the storm of confusion runs its course.
When: 15 November – 7 December
Where: Sydney Opera House Playhouse
Cost: Tickets $33-$79 (transaction fees may apply)
Bookings: Sydney Opera House Box Office
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare