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

Dromio of Syracuse: [talking about Luce, the kitchen wench] She sweats! A man may go o'er-shoes in the grime of it!
Antipholus of Syracuse: Oh, yucky poo-poo!

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Connections

Version of Big Business (1988)

User Reviews

Vaudeville Revisited

I remember seeing this program on a now-defunct PBS station, KQEC in San Francisco. That was back in 1987, the Reagan-Yuppie years. The performers were speaking Shakesperean lines but, unlike dramatic actors, were purposely screwing up his words with glee. Then the more I watched, the more I enjoyed it and waited for PBS to air it again. It was part of a Great Performances "Live from Lincoln Center" production and I was lucky enough to see it in its entirety. Since then, I became an instant Flying Karamazov fan and have followed their progress. What an amazing cast of talent in the show; jugglers, baton twirlers, acrobats, fire-eaters and so forth. If Shakespeare ever saw this adaptaion of his light comedy, he would be spinning in his grave, with hilarity.