I saw Seattle Shakespeare’s production of Shakespeare’s The
Comedy of Errors last Sunday and, as always, it was delightful. This is a fantastic group and I always look
forward to their performances.
The Comedy of Errors was Shakespeare’s first comedic play,
probably performed first in 1592, after the Henry VI trilogy and Richard
III. It is almost certainly derived from Menachmi of Plautus, another play
based on identical twins and mistaken identities. Shakespeare doubled down by
creating two pairs of twins who could not only confuse other people but
encounter alternate versions of each other. As one expects from the
genre-bending Shakespeare, there are serious threatening elements incorporated
in the story, including a man seeking lost family members who is under threat
of death throughout the play.
That tells you a bit about the plot but there’s a lot more
going on than simply a few plot elements acted out onstage. This is a VERY
lively and witty play. There is a lot of rhyme play, banter between characters
(particularly the Antipholuses and Dromios) and in many performances, physical
slapstick.
Seattle Shakespeare upped the ante by having aerialist and performance artist Lara Paxton
set a trapeze disguised as a clock with a pendulum into motion. And the two
Dromios were played by Kevin Kelly and Arjun Pande, two gifted slapstick
comics. Not mentioning the cast is not meant to slight them because they were
uniformly excellent and kept this pot boiling throughout the show. I do need to
comment on Linda Morris’s performance as well…I thought that I recognized her
as Goneril from last year’s King Lear and my wife and I found ourselves sitting
next to her parents, who proudly confirmed that. Seeing her brilliantly carry
off two parts that were so different was a real treat!
If you haven’t seen performances by the Seattle Shakespeare
Company, do yourself a favor. They are definitely an under-appreciated cultural
treasure!
