The Comedy of Errors - Shakespeare in the Park — Page 3

I was under the impression that many scholars believe the maid Luce is the same as Nell.

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Updated On: 6/23/13 at 08:07 AM

"Is it an error to move “The Comedy of Errors” from Ancient Greece, where Shakespeare placed this early play of his, to upstate New York in the 1940’s? ,,,,Director Daniel Sullivan, who previously plunked his “The Merchant of Venice” in Edwardian England, seems to base his new move on nothing more than a weak pun. Syracuse is the name of one of two Greek city-states having a trade war in Shakespeare’s play; Syracuse is also the name of the fifth largest city in New York State. Even “The Boys of Syracuse,” the Rodgers and Hart musical based on “The Comedy of Errors,” still took place in Ancient Greece."

I was taught that the original productions of Shakespeare's plays were all done in "modern dress," that is scenically set in Elizabethan England, regardless of when or where they were textually set. Even Julius Caesar. That more "realistic" mise en scene in Shakespeare's plays congruent with their time and place is an invention of the relatively recent past (early 19th century).

Accordingly, I don't see why anachronistic play with Shakespeare should be objectionable. Even "Boys from Syracuse" has anachronisms, such as Antipholus of Syracuse's charming lyric "in Verona my late cousin Romeo" Certainly the Capulets and the Montagues were not contemporaries of the Antipholi and Dromii. Clearly, Rodgers and Hart is not realism. But neither is Shakespeare. Nor was Shakespeare ever realism, a theatrical movement which postdates it by 4 centuries.






Sir Alec on the tradition of Shakespeare in contemporary settings

Updated On: 6/25/13 at 09:41 AM

I wanted to ask how does the standby line work. I just show up in the evening? What time would you suggest based on recent experience? Is it just for the people who didn't get tickets in the morning or can I come just for the evening?

Thank you!