Comedy of Errors

To be honest, I was unsure about going to see The Comedy of Errors. The last CRT production I saw, Galileo, did not meet my expectations. The Comedy of Errors was absolutely fantastic!

While the clips we had seen in class were great snapshots of what the action should look like, it was great to be able to watch the play from start to finish. One of my favorite things about the play was the actors' facial expressions. They did such a fantastic job-you could clearly tell what the character was feeling. For example, the Dromios were hysterical. I knew they were supposed to be the comic relief of the comedy, but I had never pictured them to be as funny as the actors portrayed them. One of the Dromios (I forget which one), clutched to a member of the audiences' leg. There was also a particular point in the plot where one of the Dromios did a summersault off of the stage. Long story short, their comic relief made the play really come alive for me. Even after a long day of studying, the actors held my attention.

Two of the director's choices confused me. First, throughout my reading of the play, and our class discussions, I never thought that Adriana was pregnant. In the CRT's production, she clearly was. I think this is an interesting choice. When you find out that Antipholus has either been unfaithful, or at least been tempted to be unfaithful, Adriana's pregnancy makes the unfaithfulness that much more powerful. It is one thing to cheat on your wife, but it is another to cheat on your wife when she is pregnant with your child. I wonder if Shakespeare meant for Adriana to be pregnant. She didn't appear to be in the film clips we watched in class. I guess this is just one of those stylistic choices directors make. However, I am curious as to what caused the director to choose this route. Were there lines in the comedy that he/she felt indicated that Adriana was pregnant? Or did the director simply decide on his/her own.

Another plot point that confused me was when the puppet came out of the Pinch's stomach. My impression of the scene is that Pinch was electrified, and that caused the puppet to be released from his stomach. But what was that puppet supposed to be? I don't remember anything coming out of Pinch in the reading. But then again, I don't remember Pinch having a close encounter with death. I wonder if I simply missed it in the reading, or if it was another of the director's stylistic choices.

All in alll, I really enjoyed viewing The Comedy of Errors. Because I learn best visually, it was nice to see the comedy performed. It helped me to understand the plot more clearly, and to really enjoy Shakespeare. I always enjoy reading Shakespeare in the end (after we begin to discuss and disect it as a class), but watching the play be performed made the effort I put into reading it worth it.