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Great River 2017

The Place: Ephesus

The Rule: “If any Syracusan born come to the bay of Ephesus-he dies, unless a thousand marks be levied to quit penalty and ransom him.”

The Situation (Egeon’s Story): A Syracusan Merchant named Egeon has been arrested and condemned to death after illegally entering Ephesus. During his judgement, Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus, gives him the opportunity to explain himself. Egeon tells the story of his sorrow. Years ago, Egeon’s wife, Emilia, gave birth to twin sons. At the same time a family of servants also gave birth to twins, whom Egeon bought to serve his sons. However, Egeon’s family is victim of a shipwreck and the family splits in half at sea. His wife, youngest son, and one of the servants went one way, while Egeon, the eldest boy, and the other servant, went the other. After returning home Egeon named the surviving boys after their lost brothers: Antipholus and the servant Dromio. When Antipholus turned eighteen he took Dromio, and together started a quest for his lost brother. Years after that, Egeon sailed to find his son and his search led him to Ephesus. The Exception: The Duke is moved my Egeon’s story so he grants him until the end of the day to raise the fine of a thousand- marks that will save his life.

The Error: Meanwhile, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse arrive in Ephesus disguised as natives so they are not recognized as Syracusans. Antipholus sends Dromio to the Inn with their luggage and money. However soon after it, Dromio reappears, but it is not Antipholus’ servant, instead it is his Twin: Dromio of Ephesus, who serves Antipholus of Ephesus. Antipholus of Syracuse is oblivious to this. And so a tale of confusion begins. When the Syracusans cross paths with the friends and family of their twins, a series of misunderstandings unfold, involving: Adriana, Antipholus of Ephesus’ wife, her sister

Luciana, and the debt behind a gold chain. The series of identity mistakes lead to accusations of infidelity, beatings, seduction, debt, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and madness all around the city.

What’s a ? Farce, a comic dramatic piece that uses highly one dimensional characters put into an improbable situations, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay. The term also refers to the class or form of drama made up of such compositions. Farce is generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to in its crude characterizations and implausible plots, but it has been sustained by its popularity in performance and has persisted throughout the Western world to the present.

The Night Of Errors: On December 28, 1594, Shakespeare’s theatrical troupe The Lord Chamberlain’s Men were booked to give a seasonal performance before an audience of lawyers at London’s Gray’s Inn, celebrating what was essentially their Christmas party. The they performed was The Comedy of Errors (which Shakespeare likely wrote especially for that night), but things didn’t go quite to plan—The Lord Chamberlain’s Men arrived late, by which time their audience was drunk and the stage had all but been dismantled. They still gave the best performance they could, but the night nevertheless went down in history as “The Night of Errors.” So what happened? Well, a recent discovery at the British National Archives suggests that something came up at the very last minute—and by “something,” we’re talking about a personally requested performance in front of Queen Elizabeth I. According ’s treasury records, Shakespeare’s company received payment for a royal command performance on the same night that they were booked to play Gray’s Inn. Shakespeare had presumably already committed to the Gray’s Inn performance when word came from the palace that the queen herself wanted some post-Christmas entertainment, but by then it was too late to cancel. So he and his men turned up at Greenwich, performed for the queen, then raced across London to their second booking only for the night to end in chaos.

Roman influence on Shakespeare’s Comedy (Menaechmi) The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earliest shows and was heavily influenced by the form of ancient Rome comedy. Shakespeare borrowed from ’ Menaechmi. Like Plautus, Shakespeare uses humor, classical stock characters, and violence for comedic effect. Plautine start with a prologue that provides background information, Shakespeare does the same, but much more integrated to the story, using the Egeon speech at the beginning of the story to establish the setting and also to frame the play. Plautus’ Manaechmi tells the story of a set of twins separated at birth and reunited after a series of hilarious mistaken identities problems. Shaespeare however, not to be outdone, added a second set of twins which doubles the errors and comedy of the show and adds many side conflicts to the story of the two main brothers.

There’re also evidence that Plautus’ Amphytryon is also another influence for The Comedy of Errors, specifically because of similarities between one scene of both shows. In Amphytryon the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury take the shape of a man named Amphitruo and his servant. When Amphitruo returns home he finds himself lock out of his house while his look doppelgänger enjoys dinner in his house. Shakespeare uses this same scene as an inspiration for the scene where Antipholus of Ephesus is locked out while Antipholus of Syracuse enjoys dinner with his brother’s wife. The Comedy of Errors is also one out of the two times that Shakespeare follows ’s Unities of time, place, and action. He does it again in one of his lasts plays . Errors is clearly the work of a student who quickly became the master.

What’s especial about Great River’s Comedy of Errors?

The 1920s: Now picture that story of misunderstanding and chaos during the 1920s Gatsby Era. Prohibition was just beginning in the country so levels of alcohol and drinking increases in this year, due to the amount of people drinking to express their discontent with the law. The roaring 20s were prosperous times where the economy was flowing, people were happy and celebrating, the flapper was introduced, and it was a blooming time for music, jazz, and other art forms. The color and fashion of the 20s, along with the fun and prosperous times, are a perfect asset to the farce of the Comedy of Errors. The drinking aspects of the time period serve as a support for all the craziness and confusion of the story. Plus, women starting to take more freedom during the 1920s supports the defying questions that Adriana and Luciana ask about the power men have.

Gypsy Life: In our Comedy of Errors our characters embrace a Gypsy life, filled with music and art, and a desire to find a community in a . Usually the term Gypsy is used to describe a life of someone who moves a lot and never stays in one place. Living a Gypsy lifestyle means forming families and community in each new place. Gypsies were also persecuted, which fits the status of the Syracusans in Ephesus. The wondering characteristics of a Gypsy life, connects to the wondering characteristic of the Syracusans, who have been traveling for years in search of their other half, and in search of the rest of their family before landing in Ephesus.

Music: The 1920s were a rich time for music, especially Jazz. Great River’s production of The Comedy of Errors honors that aspect of the time period. Songs like What’ll I do?, Miss Celia’s Blues, Happy Feet, and Witchcraft are featured all throughout the play. They help set up the spookiness of the town and the mystical side of the story. Also, the music allows for the characters to play and express their farcical characteristics.

The Dromios: In Shakespeare time women were not allowed on the stage, leading to many female characters being played by men and to little female roles in Shakespeare shows. In fact, there are only 2 main female roles in Comedy of Errors: Adriana and Luciana. Great River defies that by making the Dromios played by women! Dromio of Syracuse is played by Tarah Flanigan, while Dromio of Ephesus is played by Caroline Amos. The two take on the comedy of the role with clownish characteristics and serve as leaders of the story. The Dromios are , so why shouldn’t they be played by women?

Violence: The way violence connects to laughter is one of the messages behind the Comedy of Errors. The reason audiences find clowns funny is because the walk the fine line between misfortune and comedy, same goes for the Dromios. The violent relationship between the Antipholus and the Dromios is perhaps one of the funniest aspects of the show because it ties with the of the story. The identity mistakes that lead to the Dromios being beaten are a constant threat throughout the story and some of the highest comedic value. However, in Great River’s version of the story, violence is portrayed with non-violent objects such as candy, bread, a pinwheel, and so on. Still maintaining the comedy and the farce of the story, this ne elements allow for a more ridiculous playing ground between the characters who take themselves extremely seriously, while also staying away from any darkness that the violence of being beaten by a rope (like in the original story) might convey.

Family and Happiness: The Comedy of Errors is a tale of the value of family and happiness. Egeon’s story and desire to be reunited with his family makes him the hero of the story. All the struggles and the problems that the characters go through makes the ending a sweet and satisfying one. The whole family is reunited and the problems are solved. It is a tale that we can all identify with in terms of the value of those that we love. It is a tale of struggles leading to valuable happiness with those that we cherish.

Bibliography

Andrews, Evan. "10 Things You Should Know About Prohibition." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 May 2017.

Kates, Herbert S. "THE MENAECHMI or THE TWIN BROTHERS." Menaechmi or The Twin Brothers. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

"Shakespeare On Tour - Shakespeare and the 'Night of Errors'." BBC. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.

"United States History." Roaring Twenties. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2017.