THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Annie Whittaker
The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earlier plays. It is his shortest and one of the most farcical comedies, with a lot of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity (one of his popular devices), puns and word play. The events occur over 24 hours on the island of Ephesus when Antipoholus of Syracuse, accompanied by his servant Dromio, arrive to look for his missing identical twin brother, unaware that his father Egeon has just arrived with the same purpose in mind and has been arrested and sentenced to execution, AND that his brother Antipholus of Ephesus and HIS servant Dromio are living on the island.
When the Syracusans encounter friends and family of their identical twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, seductions, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness and demonic possession.
So pretty much your usual Shakespeare comedy in all its whacky glory!
Playwright
William Shakespeare
(26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[7] His works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".
Director
Annie Whittaker
Annie has been an actor, tech, stage manager and director throughout her theatre career. She has previously directed This is How It Goes (Neil LaBute for Theatreworks), A Few Good Men (Aaron Sorkin for Dolphin Theatre), The God of Carnage (Yasmina Reza for Dolphin Theatre), Kings of the Gym (Dave Armstrong for Titirangi Theatre), The Sure Thing (David Irving for Ellerslie Theatre), The Bach (Stephen Sinclair for Ellerslie Theatre), Baskerville (Ken Ludwig for Dolphin Theatre), The Flint Street Nativity (Tim Firth for Dolphin Theatre) and Death & Taxe$ (April Phillips for Dolphin Theatre) which was awarded Outstanding Comedy at the ACTT 2022 awards. Annie also won the final Short & Sweet Theatre Festival in Auckland in 2019 with Tanya Wheeler’s It Happens To a Lot of People.
Annie has had a long love affair with Shakespeare and is thrilled to be directing The Comedy of Errors, one of her favourites. The potential for mirth and mayhem are boundless in this play and she expects to have a fabulous amount of fun bringing this play to life.
Audition pieces and script will be provided upon application.
CAST
Crew
Producer
Dolphin Theatre
Director
Annie Whittaker
Production Assistant
Lisa Inman
Stage Managers
Robyn Bull
Wardrobe Design
Robyn Fleming
Wardrobe Assistants
Jeni Cottier, Jenny La Trobe, Jocelyn McQuaid, Jenny Connors
Lighting Design
Glen Horan
Sound Design
Geoff Evans
Tech Operators
TBA
Props
TBA
Rehearsal Prompt
TBA
Set Construction & Painting
Claire Nelson, Steve Moratti, Leon Perkins, Matt Poole, Tony Simmons, Craig Kilpatrick, Michael Smythe
Poster Design
Cherish Christopher
Front of House Manager
Jo Olsen
Bar Manager
Robyn Fleming
Box Office Manager
Ruth Dillon