Comedy Of Errors

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The Comedy of Errorsis one ofWilliam Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his mostfarcicalcomedies, with a major part of the humor coming fromslapstickand mistaken identity, in addition topunsandword play.Charles Whitworth, in his edition of the play, argues thatThe Comedy of Errorswas written "in the latter part of 1594."[1]The play was not published until it appeared in theFirst Folioin 1623.

Key plot elements are taken from twoancient Romancomedies ofPlautus.FromMenaechmicomes the main premise of mistaken identity betweenidentical twinswith the same name, plus some of the stock characters such as the comic courtesan. FromAmphitryonhe borrows the twin servants with the same name, plus the scene in Act 3 where a husband is shut out of his house while his wife mistakenly dines with his look-alike.Theframe storyof Egeon and Emilia derives fromApollonius of Tyre, also a source forTwelfth NightandPericles, Prince of Tyre.

The story takes place in Ephesus, on the west coast of Asia Minor (where modern-day Turkey is). There has been a long-standing battle between Syracuse on the east coast of Sicily and Ephesus.This sets up part of the tension in the plot, with three characters from Syracuse sneaking into Ephesus to set the story in motion.

SolinusDukeof EphesusEgeon amerchantof SyracuseEmilia his lost wife, now LadyAbbessat EphesusAntipholus of EphesusandAntipholus of Syracuse twin brothers, sons of Egeon and EmiliaDromio of EphesusandDromio of Syracuse twin brothers,bondmen, each serving his respective AntipholusAdriana wife of Antipholus of EphesusLuciana her sister

EgeonSolinus

Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is condemned to death in Ephesus for violating the ban against travel between the two rival cities. As he is led to his execution, he tells the Ephesian Duke, Solinus, that he has come to Syracuse in search of his wife and one of his twin sons, who were separated from him 25 years ago in a shipwreck. The other twin, who grew up with Egeon, is also traveling the world in search of the missing half of their family. (The twins, we learn, are identical, and each has an identical twin slave named Dromio.) The Duke is so moved by this story that he grants Egeon a day to raise the thousand-mark ransom that would be necessary to save his life.

Meanwhile, unknown to Egeon, his son Antipholus of Syracuse (and Antipholus' slave Dromio) is also visiting Ephesus--where Antipholus' missing twin, known as Antipholus of Ephesus, is a prosperous citizen of the city.Antipholus of Ephesus' wife, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and drags him home for dinner, leaving Dromio of Syracuse to stand guard at the door and admit no one. Shortly thereafter, Antipholus of Ephesus (withhisslave Dromio of Ephesus) returns home and is refused entry to his own house. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister, who is appalled at the behavior of the man she thinks is her brother-in-law.

Dromio of SyracuseAntipholus of SyracuseAntipholus of EphesusAdriana

Antipholus of SyracuseLuciana

Dromio of Ephesus

Add to this a gold chain given to one of the Dromios (the wrong one) leading to:An angry merchant; a mistaken arrest, Culminating in a surprise appearance by a wayward nun, as things get wackier and wackier.Of course, being a comedy, it all ends happily for everyone.

Dromio of SyracuseDromio of Ephesus

Most people think of Shakespeare as heavy or serious or intellectual, but The Comedy Of Errors shows that Shakespeare understood how to make a fast-paced, funny comedy, that everyone could enjoy.It uses the same time-worn techniques that comedians have used for centuries: slapstick, pratfalls, and mistaken identities, all doubled, due to the use of two sets of twins!

There have been several adaptions of the play into various formats, including opera, musicals, film, and television!There was a popular 1938 Broadway musical called The Boys From Syracuse written by Rodgers & Hart. (click here for sample)There was also a 1988 movie called Big Business based on the play.The popular TV showThe X-Filesfeatures an episode called "Fight Club", the story of which heavily parallels many elements from this play.

A Nutsy the Squirrel ProductionCopyright 2012 Oak Hills Media CenterAll Rights Reserved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comedy_of_Errorshttp://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/errors/summary.html

MusicComedy Tonight South Shore Concert Band And Richard Whitmarsh; Sounds of the Circus, Vol.55, 2011