RSC The Comedy of Errors at The Roundhouse

RSC The Comedy of Errors at The Roundhouse

15 June, 2012
by: JoSuthers

Jo Sutherland reviews Amir Nizar Zuabi's RSC production of The Comedy of Errors at The Roundhouse: "it’s a much darker play than you expect..."

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival, the RSC’s contemporary version of The Comedy of Errors is the first in the trilogy of The Shipwreck Plays. The play tells the story of two sets of identical twins who are separated by a storm at sea. One twin – Antipholus – is saved by his father and taken back to Syracuse. The other – also named Antipholus – winds up in Ephesus. To further confuse matters, each Antipholus has a servant of their own to do their bidding and those servants happen to be identical twins. They, like their masters bear the same face and name – Dromio. Unbeknown to the long lost family, the two Antipholus and Dromios alll become residents (welcome or not) in the Mediterranean city of Ephesus. Ergo, ‘errors’ ...‘comedy’. 

In this new version directed by Palestinian director Amir Nizar Zuabi, Ephesus is at war with Syracuse and parallels are drawn to the Middle Eastern conflict. Set amid a shipping port and wheeler-dealer’s paradise, guards wield machine guns and torture the illegitimates who dare tread its soil. Violence and murder aside, the play is laugh-out-loud funny. The farcical and slap-stick comedy dilutes the otherwise sinister undercurrent. The juxtaposition of laughter and shock further reiterates themes of not just mistaken identity, but also loss of identity, grief, anxiety, consumerism and class divide.

The Dromio twins, played by Felix Hayes and Bruce Mackinnon, are outrageously hilarious and adorable. The actors effortlessly sync their mannerisms and body language, to the extent where I sometimes had to rely on the ‘I heart Ephesus / Syracuse’ t-shirts to distinguish the two. But suspension of belief is required when it comes to the Antipholus twins - Stephen Hagan and Jonathan McGuinness – who are clearly very different people despite the slick ‘n shiny matching suits. The casting is justified, however, as the actors have the distinct ability to mirror and embody a sense of the other.

Mackinnon’s impeccable sense of comic timing and electrical energy hit its peak during Dromio of Syracuse’s desperate attempt to describe the seriousness of his close call – or borderline sexual assault with the ‘beastly creature’ Nell (Sarah Belcher), who disturbingly wields a phallic object (I think it’s a gherkin) in a bid to seduce him. Adriana (Kirsty Bushell) is the neurotically challenged wife of Antipholus of Ephesus (Hagan) – and full hilarity ensues when she mistakes the other Antipholus (McGuinness) for her actual husband. Hazard a guess as to how that one turns out.

To anyone nervous about their ability to understand and appreciate Shakespeare in all its glory: you need not fret. The actors have an uncanny ability to breathe life into the characters and paint pictures with the language. For example, Dromio of Ephesus (Hayes) raps Shakespearian verse and we forget we are listening to 1500s dialogue (with the exception of one ‘mother f*cker’, which is clearly not thanks to Shakespeare’s pen).

Unfortunately, the opening scene is weak – which is only an issue because it sets the world of the play. Lines are garbled, mumbled and thrown away... or distorted thanks to a megaphone and one of the actors drowning in a fish tank. But overall this is an interesting and thought-provoking version of The Comedy of Errors, made relevant to our times. In Amir Nizar Zuabi’s words; ‘it’s a much darker play than you expect...’


The Comedy of Errors runs at The Roundhouse until 4th July



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Comedy, totalitarianism and Habima: An interview with Amir Nizar Zuabi
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JoSuthers