Comedy of Errors

Stage before the play started

1. Describe the Theater, sets, and costumes
    The Drayton Hall Theater has a proscenium stage that faces an audience of about 400.  The stage is raised just a few feet above the first row of seats.  Although there was a front curtain it was not used for this production.  However, the backdrop curtain was used to block the stuff backstage.
    For the production of The Comedy of Errors the set stayed the same throughout the play.  There were two doors that represented the Chapel, a wall that represented Antipholus and Adriana's house, a wall that represented the Belly Dancer's house, and a wall for the cafe.  During the jail scene, two additional walls were brought onto the stage to off set the jail from the rest of the set.  The wall colors were neutral colors so they would not interfere with the actor's costumes.  The buildings were gray, tan, and a light red color with what looked like stucco on them.  The buildings were off to the side to make it look like there was a courtyard or market place in the middle of the stage where most of the scenes took place.  
    In contrast to the set, the costumes were extremely colorful.  The two sets of twins- Antipholus and Dromio- were dressed in the same outfits, but with a little difference to tell them apart.  The two Antipholus' were dressed in bright orange suits with orange hair, but Antipholus of Ephesus wore a blue flower in his coat pocket and had his sleeves rolled where as Antipholus of Syracuse wore a green flower in his pocket and left his sleeves down.  The Dromio twin wore purple plaid outfits with a large bright yellow tie and yellow hair.  Dromio of Ephesus had his shirt untucked and his socks were worn uneven.  Dromio of Syracuse had his pants up very high with his shirt tucked in and knee high socks.  Adriana wore a bright green skirt to match her hair with a white shirt with green poke-a-dots.  Luciana wore a bright blue skirt and jacket that matched her hair; she also wore large glasses.  The Belly dancer's costumes were blue, green, purple, red, yellow, and pink with hair to match their outfits.  

2. In what period does this play take place? Who is the author? What period did the play write live?
    I was not clear on what period the play take place in because some of the costumes looked like they were from the present day, but then some costumes looked like they were from an older time period.  The author of The Comedy of Errors is the brilliant William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare was an extremely talented play write, poet, and actor.  He lived during the Elizabethan period (1558-1603) of history.  Shakespeare has written some of the worlds most rememberable plays like Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The Comedy of Errors was one of Shakespeare's earliest plays and his shortest.  This particular play is a farcical comedy with slapstick comedy and mistaken identity.  The Comedy of Errors has been adapted into an opera, a movie, a stage production, a musical.

3. Discuss the plot
    The plot of The Comedy of Errors can be confusing if you do not pay attention to the small details like in this production the clothing differences.  The play is about two sets of twins that get separated soon after birth.  Egeon and Emilia (their parents) have one set of twins (Antipholus of Ephesus and Syracuse) and buy the other set of twins (Dromio of Ephesus and Syracuse) from a poor couple.  While returning home they get into a ship wreck and each parent takes a different twin.  Emilia's babies (Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus) are taken from her by pirates and Egeon safely gets back home with his two babies (Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse) and raises them.  Egeon eventually tells the boys this story and they set off on a journey to find their respective twin.  This brings them to Ephesus where they are mistaken for their twins.  This case of mistaken identity leads to many wild mishaps including beatings, arrests, seduction, infidelity, theft, and madness.  In the end it is discovered that they were twins and all was forgiven and it turned out that their mother never died and their father followed them to Ephesus.  In the city the family is happily reunited and all is well.