It’s true that Shakespeare tackled the biggest and darkest themes imaginable. Is life worth living? (Hamlet.) Is love a self-destructive impulse? (Romeo and Juliet.) Is everything just doomed to go to arse-up? (King Lear). But then, that’s why those ones are called the ‘Tragedies’.
There’s another side to Shakespeare that’s altogether more upbeat, life-loving and silly – and that’s the Shakespeare of comedies like Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and most of all The Comedy of Errors. A thigh-slapping farce with a premise so ludicrous you can almost see Will winking at you between the lines, The Comedy of Errors is getting a brand new production from Bell Shakespeare with a two-week season at the Arts Centre Melbourne this July.
How ludicrous you ask? Try this. Shipwrecked and separated 33 years earlier, two sets of long-lost twins find themselves in the same city on the same day. To make matters worse, the two pairs are both called Antipholus and Dromio. Are you keeping up? What follows is a series of arrests, attempted seduction, plus accusations of theft, madness, infidelity and possession by demons. Among the mayhem there's also an old man’s chaotic search for his lost children.
Directed by Janine Watson, the production features a ten-strong cast. When first staged in the 1590s the players would have been all male – this company thankfully offers gender parity and diverse casting.
Life’s been a bit of a comedy of errors lately, so what better tonic than an evening of slapstick, wordplay and general roister-doistering? Book now, the season’s rushing up fast.