VIEW NO. 1:

One of Shakespeare's earlier plays, The Comedy of Errors follows two pairs of twins, separated in infancy, who unwittingly end up in the same city, to the confusion of their friends and family. The charm of the play lies chiefly in the farce that ensues from this improbable set of circumstances, but it's definitely not all jam. The action is overshadowed by the first scene in which the father of one set of twins is sentenced to death, and the mire of mistaken identity, so amusing to the audience, comes across as increasingly nightmarish to the twins themselves.

A lot of people have expressed a lack of enthusiasm for The Comedy of Errors (too contrived; too formulaic; too many unforgiveably bad productions). This review is not intended to comment on the merits of the play in comparison to Shakespeare's other works, but although as a text it has nothing like the depth of the heavyweight tragedies, this doesn't seem to matter in the least in the current production. Something here works, and works well.

Creation Theatre's productions are always of a high standard, originally and beautifully presented, and the magical quality of many of their shows makes them particularly accessible to children. This season, The Comedy of Errors comes to life under the more than capable direction of Charlotte Conquest. The action in this case takes place in an unspecified time; in an almost magical 'Ephesus'. This, together with beautiful, sometimes outlandish costumes, add to the sense of unreality and allow the modern comic touches (Ephesus guidebooks, umbrellas used as swords, and an escape scene which this untutored reviewer reckons might have owed something to Rambo) to add seamlessly to the atmosphere rather than distracting attention from other aspects of the play.

It's unusual for me, and I'd hazard for more of us than would care to admit it, to be able to sit through two and a half hours of (unfamiliar) 16th century verse without getting tired out by the effort and eventually, dare I say it, sneaking a glance at the clock. For the duration of this show, nothing was further from my mind, and to be honest, the interval was even a bit of a distraction. The production did rely quite heavily on visual comedy, but the mix of beautifully choreographed slapstick, tongue-in-cheek puppeteering, and the occasional improbable conjuring trick always remained just on the right side of overdone, and made for a heady evening of laugh-out-loud absorption. Certainly, Conquest has clearly decided to not to play up the more serious side of the play; the bitter predicament of the condemned Egeon (Matthew Hendrickson), the original separation of the family; the anxieties of the abandoned wife Adriana (Amanda Haberland), but this doesn't mean to say that the production entirely lacks substance. A sterling cast - I hesitate to start mentioning them by name as I'll end up listing the lot - managed to bring more depth to their characters than was apparent in the script alone. The twins' distinct personalities were apparent from the first, and the contrast between Adriana and her sister Luciana (Amy Stacy) was artfully brought out.

This production is terrific fun, visually arresting and utterly entertaining. Don't expect anything more than this, but then, with frivolity this good, why would you want to?

Susie Cogan 02/02/05

VIEW NO. 2:

In the Creation Theatre Company’s production of The Comedy of Errors, director Charlotte Conquest appears to have achieved the extraordinary feat of transforming Shakespeare into pantomime. All the elements are there, including slapstick scenes involving frying pans and buckets of water, not to mention mops and plastic fishes, as well as typically extravagant costumes: Luciana (Amy Stacy) smacks of the pantomime dame, with her rosy cheeks, flouncy pink frock and wet-look knee-highs. This is perhaps not the most sensitive way of rendering Shakespeare’s great play, which, although amusing, is not devoid of all depth. Although the theme of mistaken identity upon which the plot is based generates many a humorous scenario, the fact that it casts the characters into a nightmare situation, full of frustration and confusion, cannot be overlooked.

The use of puppets in the opening scene to illustrate Egeon’s tale of his life story is a successful and creative visual touch, handled sensitively and effectively; intricate articulations really make the puppets live. However, the director then over-exaggerates this technique of clarifying meaning throughout the rest of the production, destroying many poignant moments through over-dramatisation. I am of the opinion that a talented actor should be able to manipulate Shakespeare’s rich text in such a way that they do not need to rely upon a wealth of patronising visual aids to make the meaning clear. Indeed, the show suffered in general from a complete lack of subtlety, to such an extent that it reeked of a primary school play. When the sisters and Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus assert the veracity of their account of events to the Duchess they sound, and indeed look, like a rabble of bickering children, hitting each other as they wail incomprehensibly. Furthermore, Dromio of Ephesus’ running back and forth, mouth agape and arms flailing, perhaps wasn’t the most true method of rendering madness, nor even of parodying the state, if indeed that was the director’s intention. Not only is the characterisation somewhat infantile, but the director even succeeds in infantilising the audience; most of the actors put on voices that made them sound like Playbus presenters.

Another problem was the question of era. I am all for the rendering of Shakespeare’s texts in a modern setting, but Conquest appears to have failed to settle on any period in particular. Whilst the Duchess is dressed in the garb of the time, ermine and all, Adriana looks like a cross between a Viking and Princess Leah; whilst Dromio of Syracuse goes around brandishing an A-Z map of Ephesus, the whole show ends with a dance to jazz music of the twenties. It is somewhat unsettling to say the least.

The doubling up (or, indeed, in some cases, ‘quadrupling up’) of cast members leaves the audience feeling somewhat shortchanged. Moreover, in a play in which the presence of two pairs of twins makes it difficult enough for the audience to fathom out everybody’s identity, why complicate matters further by having Egeon pop on a different waistcoat and try to pass himself as Angelo, and Luciana whip off her frock and don a Police officer’s hat?

With characters wearing colanders and saucepans on their heads and fighting each other with umbrellas and pairs of plyers, Charlie Chaplin-esque music between scenes and chains of characters chasing each other through the auditorium, Creation Theatre’s charming Mirror Tent is transformed into a circus marquee. The actors clown around moronically, stripping Shakespeare’s text of all the darker issues of which the director’s introduction in the programme would suggest she is aware. A painfully patronising production; all I can say is, thank goodness it wasn’t Hamlet.

Holly Dickens, Feb 2005