The Comedy of Errors (1987)

Two identical twins and their two servants (also identical twins) are separated in a ship-wreck. When, years later, they all show up in the same town, mistaken identities abound.

Director:

Robert Woodruff

Writers:

Titus Maccius Plautus (play), William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Karla Burns, Ethyl Eichelberger, Avner Eisenberg

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karla Burns	...	Duke of Ephesus / Luce
Ethyl Eichelberger	...	Emilia / Courtesan
Avner Eisenberg	...	The Janitor / Dr. Pinch
Sophie Hayden	...	Adriana
Gina Leishman	...	Luciana
Derique McGee	...	Citizen
Wendy Parkman	...	Citizen
Rosalinda Rojas	...	Citizen
Alec Willows	...	Angelo / Second Merchant
Timothy Daniel Furst	...	William Shakespeare
Paul David Magid	...	Antipholus of Syracuse
Randy Nelson	...	Dromio of Ephesus
Howard Jay Patterson	...	Antipholus of Ephesus
Samuel Ross Williams	...	Dromio of Syracuse
Steven Bernstein	...	Kamikaze Ground Crew

Storyline

Aegeon of Syracuse has come to Ephesus to seek his son, who went in search of his missing twin and mother months ago. Too bad that Ephesus has just declared war on Syracuse, and will instantly put to death any Syracusean found within their borders unless a ransom's paid. Meanwhile, the son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio (also an identical twin), keep running into strangers who seem to know them...

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Plot Keywords:

shakespeare's the comedy of errors | based on play | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1987 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Goodman Theater originally produced this version of The Comedy of Errors with the Flying Karamozov Brothers and Avner the Eccentric in Chicago in 1983 and at the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival in 1984.

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Goofs

In the finale, when everyone is juggling and after the xylophone has been rolled out, on the right side of the stage one of the jugglers drops her clubs and picks them up.

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Quotes

Citizen: In Syracuse, you dress in a tie... in Ephesus, you juggle or die!

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Connections

Version of Komödie der Irrungen (1965)

User Reviews

The Flying Karamazov Brothers vs. William Shakespeare

The Flying Karamazov Brothers take their cue in this performance from a line in Act I, Scene II: "They say this town is full of cozenage, As, nimble jugglers that deceive the eye, Dark working sorcerers..." On the strength of this (and the fact that they are a juggling troupe rather than traditional Shakespearean actors) every character in the play juggles. Despite this, they leave the text of the play almost unchanged. The result is a hilarious adaptation of this masterpiece of comedy, which centers around a man and his slave who don't realize that they are in the same town as their twin brothers. (That's right, they EACH have a twin.)

With a premise as odd as this, the zaniness of the FKB adds to the comedic value of the play without detracting from the plot (such as it is.) My favorite part is the performance of Alec Willows, who plays both Angelo the goldsmith, and the Second Merchant, to whom Angelo is a debtor. Dressed on one side as the goldsmith (in a gold lame' suit) and on the other side as the second merchant, he jumps back and forth (literally) while arguing with himself in two different voices so convincingly you really see two people!

The only problem I've had is that I wore out my tape, and I can't find a place to get a new copy...