eighties theme continued into the progressively frenetic second half: Antipholus of Syracuse’s wonder at strangers saluting him as ‘their well-acquainted friend’ was accompanied by That’s The Way (I Like It), their offer of ‘commodities to buy’ by Dire Straits’ I want my MTV, or Spandau Ballet’s Gold (we would decide which on the day). And for Pinch’s entrance, I wrote words and music for a madcap Gospel number loosely based on The Old Landmark, to go with the idea that the ‘Conjurer’ was an Evangelist Preacher.
The music was generally designed to punctuate the action as quickly as possible, so as to help rather than hinder the rhythm and velocity of the text. This was especially true of the stings and stabs from what we called ‘percussion corner’. The violence in Comedy was to be cartoon, so we had a whole barrel of slapsticks, cymbals, cowbells, and woodblocks for the job, and the fun in rehearsals was to decide which sound was best for a hit to the head or which for a punch to the stomach. A glockenspiel was ‘dinged’ every time the ‘chain’ was mentioned. This heightened the madness as the plot got faster and more furious.
Jon Trenchard
This Edition
The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare’s shortest play, was first published in the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays (1623). This edition follows that text closely, apart from a few minor cuts, and incorporates Shakespeare’s own stage directions into our own wherever possible. The Pinch episode, however, is much expanded: the meagre text of this scene is a mere skeleton, clearly inviting comic development and improvisation. We are very grateful to Angie Kendall for her help in preparing this edition.
Edward Hall and Roger Warren
Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse
(Photographs of the 2011 production)
Luciana, Adriana and servants
Dr Pinch and ensemble
Characters
The DUKE of Ephesus
AEGEON, a merchant of Syracuse
| ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE |
|
his twin sons |
| ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS |
| DROMIO OF SYRACUSE |
|
their twin servants |
| DROMIO OF EPHESUS |
ADRIANA, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus
LUCIANA, her sister
BALTHASAR, a merchant
ANGELO, a goldsmith
NELL, the kitchen-maid
OFFICER
COURTESAN
PINCH, an exorcist
AEMILIA, the Lady Abbess
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