William Shakespeare

The Comedy of Errors

A play in one act

Translated by:: László Arany

If you don't believe it, find out for yourself... If you can... We see what we see, but do we know what we know? As we know, theatre holds up a mirror, “as it were, to nature.” However, we see that “all the world's a stage,” that the mirror reflects itself. Be honest: is there such a thing? Two pairs of twins, in the same place, dressed identically—can Shakespeare expect us to take this seriously? Of course not, that would be comical! Comedy itself is a transparent, open secret; it is self-evident, like a fairy tale, and fantastic, like a double act. Ut mathematica poesis: it is as artificial as it is natural. In a word: art. An artificial construction? Of course, it is a play.

(...) Let's assume that we dreamed the whole thing. We dreamed that we were two people playing along. Shakespeare's imagination plays with metaphors, reflecting life and death, the future and the past. The two Antipholuses were born within an hour of each other, yet it is as if years separate them. One world: one is married, the other is a bachelor. Now they are vacationing in each other's worlds: the husband can relive his past, when he could still rampage irresponsibly; the groom can look around his future, where obligations are golden chains. They are attracted and alarmed by the experience, which combines the two halves of Shakespeare's future comedy theme, the “novel” of growing up, fitting in, and being educated.

 

Perhaps Shakespeare felt the same way, who modelled one person in the two characters, himself. A special feature of his art is that he can hide lyricism in burlesque, deeply, almost imperceptibly. But it is there, and a psychiatrist could analyse it. The poet is twenty-six years old, his youth is behind him, but his life is still ahead of him; he lives apart from his wife, but he is not free; he left his father and family in poverty, but only to pull them out of trouble... Shall I continue? He is a country boy, but he already knows his way around London, throwing himself into the hustle and bustle with anxiety and enthusiasm; he has no livelihood yet, but he has a craft. Yes, the summary metaphor of demonic-fairy magic: the theatre. The theatre, which can dress anyone in costume and thus strip them of everything personal, as if stripping them bare; the theatre, where everyone plays a role, rehearsed or improvised, sometimes their own, sometimes stepping into someone else's... Aegeon and his sons experience the hardships of an actor's life on stage without knowing it. Shakespeare discovered theatre for himself in The Comedy of Errors, and with it he learned almost everything about life well in advance; perhaps more than he could have known.

- István Géher

 

Synopsis translated by: Vivien-Tamara Sárközi

Cast of characters:

Premier: 2008.05.16