Elizabeth Surbey

BELL SHAKESPEARE’S THE COMEDY OF ERRORS @ THE PLAYHOUSE

This is one of my favourite of all Shakespeare’s comedies. Mistaken identity, lost love and longing for love, search for purpose and a search for identity, hope and redemption all at once.

As a touring production what set there is, is sparse and yet it worked well to create the versatile world of the Syracusan. Over the stage is “wish you were here” in neon signage. A throw away line from a postcard and at the same time it references a deeper sense of longing and a world of implicit threats if you have an anxious outlook.  

The director has floated the story in 70s culture, a time of rebellion and cultural revolution. As we took our seats was the Bee Gees “How deep is your love”, the Rolling Stones “Miss You” and the Gloria Gaynor’s “Never Can Say Goodbye”, all worked perfectly to take us to another time and place and in that space, moments of fun and pathos.

The 1970s was also a time of a renewed interest in psychology and attachment theory which offered a new understanding of the importance of early relationships with our caregivers.  In THE COMEDY OF ERRORS we observe two sets of twins, the masters both named Antipholus, and the twins in service to the masters, both named Dromio. Both masters share the same name but have very different outlooks on the world. An important condition of Shakespeare’s experiment was to separate them at birth, one given the benefit of a caregiver and the other growing up as an orphan in Syracuse.  Wish You Were Here becomes therefore a longing for a mothers love, and a fathers grief at being separated from his children. 

Janine Watson has returned to this play, this production and this tour, some many many months post the covid enforced hiatus of 2020. She brings to the return as its director a respect for the play’s codependent relationships. The play opens with Egeon, the father, at his lowest ebb, in searching for his lost child he is imprisoned in Syracuse as a political prisoner. Our local Antipholus, who has grown up without any parental love is anxious and preoccupied with searching for the love he felt he was owed. His marriage is defined by overt expressions of affection and threats of punishment. Contrasting with Antipholus, the tourist, who feels a sense of entitlement as he accepts the welcome afforded him by his resemblance. His love interest, Adriana’s ‘sister’ is now her brother Luciano. 

Our world in Syracuse with its tough rules, is set as a party. Festooned deserted beach, with palms and motel neon, there is an element of party with the scattered balloons and remnants of the parties over.  Hugh O’Connor, designer of both set and costume, has woven before the postcard backdrop a triptych of bleachers, from where the characters themselves can be both witness and remonstrate. In the second act we are invited to focus on “Find Yourself” as our Antipholus falls for Luciano, as a screeching Adriana would and could deflect any potential passion as she is so wronged by her own Antipholus of Ephesus. The ‘neon nights’ and disco music, represent an avoidance and disguising of deeper motivations, seeking for an adult relationship that is as powerful as that early attachment bond that was seemingly lost. 

I particularly commend our sets of twins, (Julia Billington and Ella Prince as the Dromios’ their Brothers Skyler Ellis and Feliz Jozeps as Antipholus’). I also must make mention of the ensemble players in every essence of support. All the world appears to come to rights in the end, and the direction in the final moments is a beautiful reflection of how powerful it is to come together again.

Bell Shakespeare’s production of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS is playing the Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House until Saturday 17th September 2022.

Featured image : Bell Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy Of Errors’. pic Brett Boardman

Published by Elizabeth Surbey

Elizabeth had a passion for theatre and performing from her youth and was a keen contributor to the joint school musicals- mostly the Gilbert and Sullivan romps. Once she headed to university this passion dominated with a 4 year stint at UNE in Armidale encompassing both performance and directing as major components of her Double Major in Drama and Major in English Literature. The year after graduation she found herself not only at the newly formed Actors' Centre but also teaching high school drama. She is still there, teaching, directing, writing for high school Drama and on the side across the years has performed in small season productions at Q theatre and directed several productions for the Short & Sweet program being a part of the inaugural group. Keenly she has represented other drama educators as committee member then President of Drama NSW also representing NSW on the National Committee at Drama Australia National Conferences. She completed her MA a century ago also with a focus on Drama & Theatre at UNSW. She is now a mum of two and recently directed her sixth Musical - perhaps now coming full circle in the scheme of things. She was contributing and consulting editor on a major Drama text for Cambridge Uni Press "Drama ReLoaded". More than anything she loves theatre and is very keen to share her experiences with this forum. Each year she directs secondary students in plays from Australia and across the globe, in productions large and small.