The Comedy of Errors
By William Shakespeare
April
2007
Lizzy Keenan, David
Wheeler, Stephanie Junkin & Jennifer Juul
Two twin brothers,
separated as infants--along with their servants, who
are also twin brothers--find themselves snagged in a
tangle of mistaken identity, mixed signals, and
domestic squabbles. Need a good laugh? RU celebrates
Shakespeare with one of the bard's earliest,
funniest, and freshest comedies.
Join us in the Pridemore
Playhouse
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon,
a small town in England. He is widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English language. He
wrote approximately 38 plays and 154 sonnets over a
period of about twenty years, from 1592, when he
first appeared as a playwright in London, to 1613,
when he retired to Stratford-upon-Avon. He died on
April 23, 1616. His plays have been translated into
every major language, and are performed around the
world.
Synopsis by Rachel Kohler
Act I
Egeon, a merchant of
Syracuse, is brought before Duke Solinus of Ephesus,
charged with the crime of being a Syracusan on
Ephesian soil. He is sentenced to die unless he can
present the Duke with one thousand ducats. Egeon
tells the Duke his reason for coming illegally to
Ephesus - he is looking for his long-lost son. He
relates the story of his life, explaining that he
once had a wife who gave birth to identical twins.
On the same day in the same place, a poor woman gave
birth to two more identical twins, which Egeon
appropriated to grow up as his sons' menservants. On
their way back home, their ship is over set by a
terrible storm and the family is separated. Egeon
has one of his sons and his infant servant, and his
wife has the others. Mourning the loss, Egeon names
the two babies in his possession after the two that
he believes dead. Many years later, his son sets out
in search of his long-lost brother. Egeon is in
Ephesus in search of him. The Duke takes pity on
Egeon after hearing his story, but is unable to
break the laws of his country. Instead, he gives
Egeon a day to acquire the necessary funds to buy
his freedom. Meanwhile, in the market of the city,
Antipholus of Syracuse, Egeon's son, arrives with
his manservant, Dromio of Syracuse. Antipholus sends
Dromio to their inn with a large sum of money. A few
minutes later, Dromio of Ephesus, Dromio of
Syracuse's identical twin, appears on the market and
mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for his master,
Antipholus of Ephesus, who is Antipholus of
Syracuse's identical twin. Dromio of Ephesus asks
Antipholus of Syracuse to come home for dinner.
Antipholus of Syracuse, believing him to be Dromio
of Syracuse demands to know what Dromio of Ephesus
has done with the money he gave him. When Dromio of
Ephesus professes ignorance of the money, Antipholus
of Syracuse beats him. Dromio of Ephesus runs away,
and Antipholus of Syracuse leaves to check on his
money.
Act II
In
the house of Antipholus of Ephesus, his wife,
Adriana, complains of her husbands tardiness. Her
sister, Luciana, preaches patience to her. Dromio of
Ephesus enters, claiming that Antipholus of Syracuse
(who Dromio of Ephesus believed to be Antipholus of
Ephesus) is mad, because he professed to not know of
his house or his wife, and instead demanded money
from Dromio of Ephesus. Adriana, enraged, sends
Dromio of Ephesus back out to find her husband.
Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse returns from his
inn, having confirmed that his money is safe. He
meets Dromio of Syracuse and berates him for jesting
with him about the money. Dromio of Syracuse is
understandably confused. Adriana enters, accompanied
by Luciana, and, thinking that she has found her
husband, demands that Antipholus of Syracuse
accompany her back to her house for dinner. Bemused,
Antipholus of Syracuse agrees to go with her, and is
led into the house. Adriana orders Dromio of
Syracuse to stand watch at the door.
Act III
Antipholus of Ephesus approaches his house with a
few of his merchant friends, Balthasar and Angelo
intending to invite them to eat with him and his
wife. Dromio of Syracuse denies him entrance.
Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus try
without success to gain entrance into the house.
Before they can do anything too rash, Balthasar
calms Antipholus of Ephesus and suggests he come
back later when there aren't so many people around.
Antipholus agrees, and decides to instead eat dinner
with his courtesan friend. Angry at his wife for
locking him out, he asks Angelo to bring a gold
chain that he has been working on for Adriana.
Antipholus decides instead to give the chain to the
courtesan to spite his wife. Meanwhile, within the
house, Antipholus of Syracuse attempts to woo
Luciana. Believing that he is her sister's husband,
Luciana is appalled, and leaves to find her sister.
Dromio of Syracuse enters, distraught because a fat
and ugly kitchen wench is claiming to be his
significant other. Angelo returns with the gold
chain for Antipholus of Ephesus, and mistakenly
gives it to Antipholus of Syracuse. Confused,
Antipholus of Syracuse accepts it. He decides that
things have gotten too weird in Ephesus, and asks
Dromio of Syracuse to find them a ship to depart.
Act IV
Angelo enters, pursued by another merchant that he
owes a large amount of money to. Angelo promises
that as soon as Antipholus of Ephesus pays him for
the chain that he just delivered that the merchant
will have his money. Antipholus and Dromio of
Ephesus enter. Antipholus asks Dromio to go and
fetch him a rope. After Dromio of Ephesus leaves,
Angelo asks Antipholus for the money. Antipholus
claims to not have received the chain. Since Angelo
obviously cannot pay, the merchant has him arrested.
Convinced that Antipholus is cheating him, Angelo
arrests Antipholus, as well. Dromio of Syracuse
enters, and Antipholus of Ephesus sends him to his
house to fetch bail. Meanwhile, at the house,
Adriana is questioning Luciana about her
conversation with Antipholus of Syracuse. Dromio of
Syracuse runs in and asks for the money for
Antipholus of Ephesus' bail. Adriana gives it to
him, and he leaves in search of Antipholus of
Ephesus. He runs into Antipholus of Syracuse
instead, and gives him the money. Antipholus of
Syracuse is quite confused, but just then, the
courtesan enters. Mistaking Antipholus of Syracuse
for Antipholus of Ephesus, she asks him for the
chain that she traded her diamond ring for when she
saw Antipholus of Ephesus at dinner. Antipholus of
Syracuse runs off, and the courtesan, worried that
she will lose her ring, decides to go to Adriana and
tell her that her husband is mad. After she leaves,
Antipholus of Ephesus enters, still in custody.
Dromio of Ephesus appears with the rope he was sent
for, but not the bail money that Antipholus of
Ephesus was expecting. Furious, he begins to beat
Dromio. Adriana, Luciana, the courtesan and a doctor
enter, and upon seeing her husbands rage, Adriana
admits that he must indeed be mad. She has the
doctor bind her husband and Dromio of Ephesus and
bear them away. Just then, Antipholus of Syracuse
and Dromio of Syracuse appear with swords. Believing
that the madmen have escaped, Adriana, Luciana, the
courtesan and the officer run away screaming.
Antipholus of Syracuse repeats his resolve to leave
Ephesus immediately.
Act V
Angelo and the
merchant that he owes money to spot Antipholus of
Syracuse with the chain that Antipholus of Ephesus
denied to have. Furious, they attack Antipholus and
Dromio of Syracuse. Adriana and company run in and
order them not to harm Antipholus because he is mad.
Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse escape into a
nearby priory. Adriana and the others attempt to
follow, but they are stopped by the Abbess of the
priory, who refuses to let them take Antipholus and
Dromio of Syracuse, insisting that she will take
care of them. The Duke and Egeon enter, the time
having come for Egeon to be put to death. Adriana
throws herself in front of the Duke and begs him to
intercede on her behalf with the Abbess. Antipholus
and Dromio of Ephesus enter, having escaped from the
doctor. He asks the Duke for justice against Adriana
for locking him out of his house and humiliating
him. Egeon recognizes Antipholus and Dromio of
Ephesus, and thinking that they are the ones that he
raised, asks them if they recognize him. They do
not. The Abbess reappears with Antipholus and Dromio
of Syracuse in tow, and reveals that there are
actually two Antipholuses and two Dromios. She also
reveals that she is Egeon's lost wife. Everyone
realizes that the errors of the day were caused by a
huge case of mistaken identity, and all go into the
abbey to celebrate the reunion of Egeon's family.
