We had already been to a show in the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, but our afternoon watching The Comedy of Errors felt very different than before. First of all, I will never get tired of the Globe Theatre. It is possibly one of my favorite theatre venues I’ve been to, especially outdoor venues. The stage isn’t too high up, and the seating arrangement creates a very intimate space. And depending on your seat, you get a completely different view of the story and can sometimes witness things that you wouldn’t catch in another seat. While that may be upsetting, as you may miss something that everyone laughs at, it creates the intimate moments that make theatre so fun.
My favorite example of this was from when we saw Midsummer, and one of the characters who was playing a lion turned to face us and made a specific face of pride before turning to the back of the stage. Only our side of the theatre witnessed this moment, and my description of the moment doesn’t do their performance justice. But the moment was hilarious nonetheless.
Now, A Comedy of Errors is not my favorite show. The script itself is very slapstick and can be extremely confusing to explain and follow. I think the cast did a great job at bringing these scenes to life, and the direction and costumes really helped tell the story. The casting of the two sets of twins was very good as they really resembled each other while not being related. The costumes for the twins were also identical, which helped sell their similarities. It did make the first introduction of both sets of twins confusing, as I talked to a few people who thought the same actors were playing both roles.
But, this specific show had its downsides that were not at fault to the production or cast itself. We just so happened to have very bad luck with outside disruptions. This specific show had subtitled captions that were displayed on screens on each side of the stage. While this was helpful because of the location of our seats and the confusing plot, it became very distracting. I found myself watching the screen to follow along more than I was watching the stage. Because we were seated in the middle section of seats in comparison to the left like we were for Midsummer, we were much further away from the stage itself. The actors on stage didn’t have microphones for the production, so the distance made it harder to hear them if they weren’t facing us.
To make matters worse, there were so many distractions throughout the show that made it much more difficult to hear them. Between the screaming, and I mean screaming, child and the groups of people who wouldn’t stop talking, I was not focused on the show at all. A child was screaming “I want to go home” very loudly throughout the first scene, which explains all of the backstory and character origins of the two sets of twins. Throughout the entire show, there were at least four helicopters and possibly more than two or three airplanes that went directly over the stage. We also had the luxury of sitting near groups of people who complained and expressed themselves very loudly.
The group of older women in front of us were complaining about the sun, which is another distraction we encountered, and a group of men to our right were just very rowdy. The show was a matinee, so the sun was nearing its peak when the show began. For the last half of the show, we all pretty much had every article of clothing covering our arms and legs to shield them from the sun. I’m just glad I wore my sunscreen. But possibly the worst distraction was the man a few seats away from me who had decided it was appropriate to take off his shoes and socks for the entire show. His bare feet sliding across the wooden floors of the theatre were enough to send goosebumps down my spine and an ache in my stomach.
The show, under normal circumstances, is probably fantastic. I think the acting was phenomenal, and the comedy landed most of the time (if I was able to hear it). But, the experience of that particular show was not as memorable, for the right reasons, as A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I still love the Globe Theatre and wish I could come back. I would love to see Romeo and Juliet performed here as I know I’d be able to understand Shakespeare’s style more. I love the Globe, and I hope to be able to return someday and give A Comedy of Errors another chance.
Theatre in London U of A 