Sashini Dematampitiya
Dr. Anastasia Easterday
ART 2313.003
11 October, 2015
The Comedy of Errors
On Friday October 9th, I went to see The Comedy of Errors by the great playwright William Shakespeare at the Scottish Rite theater in downtown Austin. The two hour comedy directed by Susan Gayle- Todd featured a cast of very talented local artists. Many of the actors were hailing from the Shakespeare at Winedale program from University of Texas. This was the next to final performance as the play was performed from September 25th – October 10th.
As the name so obviously suggests, the play was a comedy and I would characterize it as a high comedy with emphasis on witty language and complex social maneuverings. At the same time, there was plenty of slapstick humor to entertain the audience as well. According to the playbill, the reason to make this comedy now was inspired by our current society---a society of narcissistic money-grubbing posers who constantly conspire and who rarely listen and communicate. In the play, there were several characters who are usually present in Shakespearean plays such as a protagonist, antagonist and foils. Since the story involved two sets of twins separated after birth, it was difficult to determine the exact role of the protagonist. However, Antipholus of Syracuse appeared to be the main character with the most lines. He was also the foil to Antipholus of Ephesus, his long lost brother. The two sisters Adriana and Luciana were foils to each other as well. Adriana, who was married to Antipholus of Ephesus was opposite in character to her sister with their different views on marriage and the role of men in the society. There was really no evil villain in the play, besides the Duke who seems to enjoy beheading people, and demanded a 1000 marks to spare the life of Egeon (Antipholus senior). Like most Shakespearean plays, the story followed the basic the organizing structure. …show more content…
We were introduced to a beginning situation (exposition), followed by rising action, a climax, and a resolution phase (dénouement) at the end. The play action started with an initial scene of people getting heads chopped off by the order of the Duke. Old Egeon was up next when he decides to tell his story and the Duke granted him a temporary reprieve. Afterwards, we were introduced to the many conflicts that were part of rising action involving the twin Antipholus brothers and their twin slaves. The climax of the play had a misunderstanding about a necklace leading to an angry Antipholus of Ephesus getting arrested. He was reasonably upset and among other things threatened to blind his wife. Even a shaman gets involved people started to think that Antipholus of Ephesus is possessed by evil and an exorcism was needed. One of the brothers and his slave seeks refuge from this madness at an abbey. The resolution phase had the Duke arriving back to the scene, and this finally brought both sets of twins, and everyone figured out the reasons for the errors of the day. As a result, it all ended well for the whole family when Antipholus of Ephesus realized that his wife still loves him, Antipholus of Syracuse finds love in Luciana, and the two identical twins also meet together as well. Better yet, the abbess turns out be Egeon’s long lost wife Amelia! I found the play to be very visually appealing as well. The costumes matched the
Dr. Anastasia Easterday
ART 2313.003
11 October, 2015
The Comedy of Errors
On Friday October 9th, I went to see The Comedy of Errors by the great playwright William Shakespeare at the Scottish Rite theater in downtown Austin. The two hour comedy directed by Susan Gayle- Todd featured a cast of very talented local artists. Many of the actors were hailing from the Shakespeare at Winedale program from University of Texas. This was the next to final performance as the play was performed from September 25th – October 10th.
As the name so obviously suggests, the play was a comedy and I would characterize it as a high comedy with emphasis on witty language and complex social maneuverings. At the same time, there was plenty of slapstick humor to entertain the audience as well. According to the playbill, the reason to make this comedy now was inspired by our current society---a society of narcissistic money-grubbing posers who constantly conspire and who rarely listen and communicate. In the play, there were several characters who are usually present in Shakespearean plays such as a protagonist, antagonist and foils. Since the story involved two sets of twins separated after birth, it was difficult to determine the exact role of the protagonist. However, Antipholus of Syracuse appeared to be the main character with the most lines. He was also the foil to Antipholus of Ephesus, his long lost brother. The two sisters Adriana and Luciana were foils to each other as well. Adriana, who was married to Antipholus of Ephesus was opposite in character to her sister with their different views on marriage and the role of men in the society. There was really no evil villain in the play, besides the Duke who seems to enjoy beheading people, and demanded a 1000 marks to spare the life of Egeon (Antipholus senior). Like most Shakespearean plays, the story followed the basic the organizing structure. …show more content…
We were introduced to a beginning situation (exposition), followed by rising action, a climax, and a resolution phase (dénouement) at the end. The play action started with an initial scene of people getting heads chopped off by the order of the Duke. Old Egeon was up next when he decides to tell his story and the Duke granted him a temporary reprieve. Afterwards, we were introduced to the many conflicts that were part of rising action involving the twin Antipholus brothers and their twin slaves. The climax of the play had a misunderstanding about a necklace leading to an angry Antipholus of Ephesus getting arrested. He was reasonably upset and among other things threatened to blind his wife. Even a shaman gets involved people started to think that Antipholus of Ephesus is possessed by evil and an exorcism was needed. One of the brothers and his slave seeks refuge from this madness at an abbey. The resolution phase had the Duke arriving back to the scene, and this finally brought both sets of twins, and everyone figured out the reasons for the errors of the day. As a result, it all ended well for the whole family when Antipholus of Ephesus realized that his wife still loves him, Antipholus of Syracuse finds love in Luciana, and the two identical twins also meet together as well. Better yet, the abbess turns out be Egeon’s long lost wife Amelia! I found the play to be very visually appealing as well. The costumes matched the