The Comedy Of Errors Leads to Identity Terrors

By Roland Finger
Staff Writer
Suppose you were named Antipholus and came from the city Ephesus, and people started saying that you had been doing strange things, like taking gold chains from people and not paying for them, getting arrested, and having meals that you did not recall. Would you feel that you were losing your mind, or would you think the world was picking on you?

Or let’s say that you were a bachelor from Syracuse, visiting Ephesus, and people told you that your wife, Adriana, wanted to see you. Then suppose this wife who wasn’t yours started seducing you, and she wasn’t bad looking. How hard would you try to convince her that you were not her husband? Or to complicate matters even more, suppose that you were really attracted to the wife’s sister, Luciana. Would you go for it?

These are the kinds of problems the two Antipholuses must deal with. They were identical twins separated before they could remember each other. But the parents were definitely setting up their identical sons for trouble, giving them the same name. Why? What twisted parents would do such a thing? It’s a Parent Trap concept taken to a new level, or old level, since it’s Shakespeare.

To make the situation even worse, the servants bound to the Antipholus twins are also identical twins with the same name, Dromio. What a ridiculous premise for a play?

Shakespeare’s inspiration comes from an old Roman farce that gets retooled. This is early absurd theatre, compelling and cute, thoroughly enjoyable because it’s over the top fun. What could the parents be up to? The parents must have really liked the name Antipholus.

Tayce Pearson, who plays a merchant, believes that the father may have wanted to give his sons one name so that he could call them both easily, and the same applies for the servant twins, the Dromios. Why should fathers bother with distinguishing children with different names? George Foreman might be a fan of this play.

The accidental separation of the twins leads to more accidents. When the twins coincidentally end up in the same city but don’t meet, mistaken identity ensues. Nobody can figure out the cause of the confusion. The wife, Adriana, wonders why her husband doesn’t remember her. The only answer sensible answer must be demonic possession.

Antipholus of Ephesus, played by Seth Eberle, receives an exorcism, getting annoyed the whole time, and is also arrested for not paying for goods rendered. Eberle is perfect as a harping, creepy husband who goes to see a prostitute at the first sign of marriage trouble and who gets abusive toward his wife for not supplying him with bail money. (The money was given to the wrong Antipholus.)

Because it is hard to imagine that Antipholus of Ephesus was a noble war hero who saved the Duke, the play acquires even more irony.

Also, the servant Dromio of Ephesus, played by Brianna French, who cross-dresses wonderfully, is hilarious, because he/she is feisty, witty, and sharp. This Dromio has a mouth, one that bites back at the master, literally, in one scene.

The Duke is also spectacular in his showiness and his evasion of responsibility for laws that he enforces. He is a consummate politician.

In our age of electronic identity theft, the play speaks to the troubles that can come from weak security. When people take others at face value, not asking for the proper identification, accidents happen. In the play, no one is doing anything maliciously, playing terrorist or intentionally pinching jewelry. It all just happens.

Forces are working against characters, confusing their lives, and people have no control, until they can finally get a handle on the situation. The wheel of fortune is having sport with people’s lives.

The Renaissance idea that the officers of the law work for clients is intriguing. The goldsmith has Antipholus of Ephesus arrested for not paying a bill. The goldsmith gives money to the officer, hiring him, leaving us thinking that money really does have power. It is a great moment in which Shakespeare unveils how unfair legal systems can be.

Recent scholars have emphasized that the play is about empowered and disempowered people. Women are beneath husbands, servants beneath masters, merchants beneath Dukes, courtesans beneath customers.

But those who are in power lose their mastery because wives get irritated and servants make mistakes. The mighty and self-assured can fall to ridicule and shame.

But it all works out in the end with Shakespearian knot tying; that is, the unmarried brother, Antipholus of Syracuse, marries the unmarried sister, Luciana. The only other main player who isn’t finally married in classic comedy style is Dromio of Syracuse, the servant who was chased by the other Dromio’s wife. Even the father is reunited with his long lost wife. Couples are brought together, the two Antipholuses finally meeting and acknowledging each other, the two Dromios as well. More than happy marriage couples are united.

Director Lori Horvik brings a rolicking version of The Comedy of Errors to NDSU, placing the play in a nineteenth-century setting, but the language is all Shakespeare.
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If You Go

What: The Comedy of Errors
When: Oct. 14-16 and 21-24
Where: NDSU, Askanase Auditorium
Info: 701.231.7969