“The Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare

at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Thursday 12th April 2012

*The performance reviewed was a preview*

And so the World Shakespeare Festival begins for me, not with a bang, but a whimper. What Country Friends is This? or the ‘Shipwreck Trilogy’ are being staged and performed throughout the cultural olympiad (I refuse to capitalise it), attempting to make comments on internationalism by “exploring dislocation, crossing borders and arriving as a stranger in a strange land”. Sounds like a wonderful utopian project with the best will in the world. The problem is, Amir Nizar Zuabi’s production of The Comedy of Errors just isn’t very good.

As if having one major production of this text already playing to large houses wasn’t enough, many of the jokes and references in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version at the RST have already been used by the National’s – wrongly, in my opinion – much-lauded offering. With such a short and arguably straightforward play, this is inevitable, but then it’s counter-intuitive to have them both playing near-simultaneously. You’d expect the companies would at least talk to one another.

Much like Cooke’s production (comparisons are unavoidable), Zuabi makes a clear point about multiculturalist undercurrents in the play, but rather than ground it firmly in a specific time and place, it ends up occurring in a confusing jungle of inexplicable colour, but where most people seem to be of English-descent. The Duke Solinus (a half-terrifying Sandy Grierson) is clearly meant to be a Gaddafi-style dictator, yet the dark moments on stage aren’t exploited to their full worth, and it feels like our director is attempting to cross the comedy/tragedy boundary without really succeeding in either.

In terms of humour, this play makes the National Theatre’s disappointing attempt seem positively masterful. Almost every joke has been seen countless times before, and laziness takes precedence over graft. Of all the actors, the two Dromios, played both touchingly and bashfully by Felix Hayes (Ephesus) and Bruce Mackinnon (Syracuse) are able to garner the most laughter, though most of the time this is through fleeting glances rather than any cohesive direction.

Only utter fools could mix up these two Antipholuses (Antipholi?), mainly due to their substantial height difference. Jonathan McGuinness’ Syracuse could well have little-man syndrome and Stephen Hagan’s Ephesus is probably suffering from superiority complex. Then again, those who are fooled are namely Adriana and Luciana, who are here played with such idiocy and hysteria by Kirsty Bushell and Emily Taafe all sympathy is removed. There is also too much hamming from Nicholas Day as Egeon and Cecilia Noble as Emilia.

A deceptively simple shipwreck set from Jon Bausor, complete with rigging and water, is underused, but it is punctuated well with Adam Ilhan’s atonal music and Jon Clark’s bright lighting. But just like the rest of Zuabi’s production, everything seems slightly out-of-kilter and compromised. It’s solid enough, with some moments of brilliance, but you’d hope the RSC’s offering to the world in 2012 would be of a little higher standard. Let’s hope the season improves and doesn’t live up to its name.

(A footnote: I wonder whether the RSC are aware of the irony which surrounds their choice of BP as sponsor for the ‘Shipwreck Trilogy’, that company which has in the past caused so many living creatures to be washed ashore, clinging to life, just like many characters in these plays. It feels like not much thought was put into that decision.)

“The Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare

at the Olivier Theatre, Tuesday 20th March 2012

Dominic Cooke had already been tipped by many to be the next artistic director of the National Theatre whilst Nicholas Hytner is still yet to announce his leaving date and before Cooke himself had even ventured into the building to direct something there. After The Comedy of Errors, however – his first production at the National – he’s lost a few places in the race for me. For, although this cosmopolitan production at the Olivier is impressive and creative, it fails to do what it says on the tin. It’s just not that funny.

Cooke has set the play in modern day London, complete with multicultural population and Soho nightclubs. It works perfectly for the play – themes of displacement in a community are drawn out, creating parallels with Sam Selvon’s Lonely Londoners and commenting wittily on one’s anonymity in a city. Bunny Christie’s astonishing design is the best I’ve seen in a long time, shifting and never in stasis, just like London itself. In one scene, we see the grimy backstreets, and in another the wealthy facades of Chelsea (a nice touch sees the three tower blocks lined up, with a single door on either side and a double door in the middle, echoing the configuration of the Globe). Ephesus here is remarkably recognisable, and Cooke keeps the verse snappy and modern – no mean feat in a theatre as grand as the Olivier.

But where the production fails is in its comedy. The visual jokes feel tired and cliched – pie in faces springs to mind – and it feels like not a lot of effort has gone into thinking about how the team could create their own comedy rather than just relying on gurning to the audience and silly voices. Lenny Henry in the role of Antipholus of Syracuse, for example, falls back too much on his infamy as a television actor in order to gain laughs; the humour in this production pales in comparison to the likes of One Man, Two Guvnors and Noises Off.

A generally strong cast (excepting the ensemble, who are nigh on ridiculous), is let down somewhat by Henry, whose verse speaking is close to incomprehensible and who, although emotionally strong, is let down by his lack of theatrical technique. Chris Jarman, as his opposite Antipholus of Ephesus, is the other way round; he is theatrically adept but emotionally barren. Daniel Poyser and Lucian Msamati as the two Dromios give us most of the laughs, even though their personalities are a little too similar. It is the two central women of this production, however, who stand out; Claudie Blakley and Michelle Terry as Adriana and Luciana respectively are simultaneously human and ridiculous, though I question the decision to make them both seem devoid of great mental capacity.

Paule Constable’s subtle lighting allows Christie’s superb set to shine, whilst Gary Yershon’s fantastic music creates hilarious scene changes as a group of four musicians plays pop songs in romanian – a nice touch which adds to Cooke’s comment on multiculturalism, especially when placed against the opening of the second act, during which we hear Dizee Rascal’s Bonkers blasted through the speakers. Although Cooke’s concept is sound, however, adding an extra dimension to the play which has rarely been considered, it is frustrating that this production fails to deliver on the most basic points. Perhaps it should be renamed The Play of Errors.