The Errors of Comedy

We came back to the Globe! On Thursday we crossed the crowded Millennium Bridge once again to meet at the matinee showing of Comedy of Errors. Our seats were directly across from the stage at this show, which gave us a better perspective of the staging and movement of the actors. From the beginning, I could tell that this show decided to follow the traditional concepts of the scripts more than the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that we had seen at the Globe a few weeks prior. The costumes were more puffy and less colorful. The casting followed the script more than Midsummer’s casting. However, the plot of Comedy of Errors needs the specific casting of two twins, which was executed very well in how the costumes and mannerisms were identical, especially for the two Dromios. The actors played the script like they had written it. They spoke every line with the assumption that they fully understand and spoke every line from their full chest. For such a predictable script, the action and jokes were played as funny as they could be played. It’s not common that a whole Shakespeare cast has the ability to make the audience laugh out loud multiple times, whether that be through line delivery or slapstick blocking, I was entertained, nonetheless. The side characters and use of the set props made the play with the floating boats being carried over the groundlings to deliver the duke in different colored Lord Farquaad-esque wigs. I was very pleased that we had read and studied this play in class before viewing this play. I was already very confused at certain scenes so I have no idea how I would have perceived that show if I had never read it. Shakespeare’s classic rushed ending grew very beneficial during this performance as our amazing seats turned miserable when the four o’clock sun started burning our lower bodies. For an outdoor stage, I must give it to the actors for performing in eighty-degree heat wearing layers of petticoats or male bloomers and having to yell over about five airplanes and two babies screaming to go home. Though this play reads as a more boring and repetitive Shakespeare script, I felt that this company went above and beyond in how they delivered their lines and added much more comedy that was terribly needed for a show with comedy in its name.