The Comedy of Errors - William Shakespeare, 1594.

Dir. Rebecca Gatward
London Globe Theatre, Wednesday 1st September 2010.

Often dismissed as his most light-hearted and trivial play, and therefore one of those least worth intellectual study, The Comedy of Errors proves over four centuries since its debut, that when writing purely for entertainment and not artistic merit, Shakespeare was very adept at entertaining the masses.
Testament to this is the wonderful Globe Theatre on London's South Bank. For a mere £5 one can stand in the "pit" and watch the world's best Shakespearian actors just metres away. On a warm September night this is most inviting, as the seasons change perhaps not, but who is to say that darker tragedies such as Hamlet and King Lear might be enhanced by a less inviting atmosphere.

In an RSC cast assembled by many faces recognisable through constant bit parts in Midsomer Murders, Lewis, Casualty and the like, a child-like enthusiasm for the slapstick humour of the late sixteenth century was executed perfectly. The play concerns a master and a servant, who arrive in Ephesus to face their identical twins, long since separated, who are also master and serf. Farcical scenes ensue, with Shakespeare's iron grip on the lexiconical playfulness of the English language proving sidesplitting to a modern day audience as it would have been when the bard himself was in the arena.

However, the masterstroke of the performance is the decision to cast only one actor each in the part of both twins, with the removal of a pair of spectacles the only clue to which sibling is being portrayed. The self-awareness and parody evident in the final scenes when it is necessary to have both twins on stage concurrently, with a most simple and playful device taking centre stage. The best night out you'll find for £5 anywhere in the country.