From his earliest
plays, Shakespeare was transfixed by the ocean and its capacity as a catalyst
for change and or rebirth. Plays such as The
Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night,
Pericles and The Tempest are all infused with the rhythms and responses to such
a vast unfathomable body of water such as the Mediterranean ,
and The Comedy of Errors is no
different. One of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies, The Comedy of Errors was written in 1594, and draws its inspiration
from two of Plautus’ plays, Menaechmi
and Amphitruo. However, Shakespeare –
being Shakespeare – sees the inherent theatricality in Menaechmi’s separated
identical twins, and doubles it, thus creating a scintillating whirlwind of
farce, comedy, identity, tragedy and pathos and his now trademark humanity and
warmth.
In Bell
Shakespeare’s The Comedy
of Errors, however, the farce is perhaps overplayed, the action too
breakneck, the whirlwind too impossibly fast that we lose sight of the people
at the centre of Shakespeare’s play. A comedy in name and style, The Comedy of Errors – like every other
of Shakespeare’s comedies – walks the knife-edge between comedy and warmth, and
tragedy and sadness, and I couldn’t help but think there was something missing
from Imara Savage’s national tour production for 2013.
