The Comedy of Errors

"The Comedy of Errors" has the ironic distinction of being Shakespeare's shortest play, while containing the longest speech Shakespeare ever penned. The farce chronicles the identity crisis of Antipholes of Syracuse. With the use of the dramatic trick of mistaken identities, an alienating sense of being displaced from one's self refracts the levity of the piece into existential musings.

The opening speeches ground the audience in an Elizabethan imitation of ancient Greece. A man by the name of Egeon, a native of Syracuse, has been arrested in Ephesus, and is about to be executed. In Ephesus, there is a law that says a Syracusan who is caught in Ephesus will be fined one thousand marks or be executed. Egeon pleads his case by recounting how once upon a time, he was shipwrecked at sea, and the storm separated his wife, one of their twin sons and one of his twin slaves from him. When his son grew up, he took his slave and went in search of his mother and brother. Egeon followed suit and ended up in Ephesus. The Duke cannot violate his city's laws, but he gives Egeon the day to find someone to buy his life back.

Antipholus of Syracuse, the son who was raised by Egeon and has left Syracuse with his slave (Dromio of Syracuse) to search for his mother and brother, is, unknown to Egeon, also in Ephesus.

Antipholus of Syracuse feels spiritually incomplete without his twin, a sentiment which comes through in these words: "I to the world am like a drop of water/that in the ocean seeks another drop,/ Who falling there to find his fellow forth,/ Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself./ So I, to find a mother and a brother,/ In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself" (I.ii. 35-40).

His twin brother, Antipholus of Ephesus, has become a wealthy, well-respected citizen of Ephesus. He is married to a woman named Adriana and is a favorite of the Duke's. Dromio of Ephesus, slave of Antipholes of Ephesus, happens upon Antipholes of Syracuse in the street, and mistakes him for his own master. Antipholes of Syracuse, in turn, mistakes Dromio of Ephesus for his own slave. Dromio of Ephesus demands that his master go home to his wife, Adriana, and dinner, which baffles Antipholes of Syracuse, who has no wife, and doesn't even live in this town. An argument filled with misunderstandings ensues, ending with the thoroughly confused master slapping the thoroughly confused slave.

Soon after, Adriana, and her sister Luciana run into Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, who have been reunited. Mistaking them for her husband and slave, Adriana accuses her husband of infidelity and drags him home to dinner. A confused Antipholus of Syracuse decides to play along and see what happens. When his twin, Antipholus of Ephesus arrives, he discovers himself barred from his own house. Furious, he goes away with friends to see an expensive prostitute, planning to give the Courtesan a gold chain he had originally made for his wife.

Inside the house, Antipholus of Syracuse has become smitten with Adriana's sister, Luciana. He professes his undying love to her. Luciana is mortified and gives a confusing speech about infidelity to the man she believes is her sister's husband, before fleeing out of the room to Adriana. (Luciana thinks men are incapable of fidelity and so if they must commit adultery, they shouldn't get caught and should make a show of doting on their wives.) Antipholus of Syracuse, now completely confused and frustrated, in a town he thinks is mad, decides to depart from Ephesus and bids his slave to book the passage.

After he leaves the house, news of Antipholus of Ephesus's arrest sends Adriana into a flurry of action. (Antipholus of Ephesus has been arrested for refusing to pay a merchant for jewels the merchant believes he gave him only hours before. In fact, the merchant gave the jewels to Antipholus of Syracuse, thinking it was Antipholus of Ephesus.) Adriana tells Luciana to get the money needed to bail Antipholus out, and orders Dromio to hurry and save her husband from prison. Meanwhile, Antipholus of Syracuse keeps being mistaken on the streets for Antipholus of Ephesus. People are constantly greeting him, and thanking him for favors. Meanwhile, an enraged Antipholus of Ephesus convinces everyone else that he is mad. A sham of a sorcerer by the name Dr. Pinch is brought to cure him.

Adriana describes her husband's madness to an Abbess. The Abbess, however, only blames the husband's condition on Adriana's jealousy. She requests a private meeting with the madman of the hour.

Just then, Antipholus of Ephesus and Dromio of Ephesus come by, and Antiopholus demands that the Duke grant him justice against his wife, Adriana. The Duke summons the Abbess to deal with the charges and countercharges between the spouses. Egeon, also at the prison, greets Antipholus happily, thinking that Antipholus of Ephesus is the son he brought up. Antipholus of Ephesus is confused by this greeting. He says he has never seen this man in his life, that he has always been a citizen of Ephesus.

Then the Abbess enters with Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse. The Abbess declares herself as the lost wife of Egeon and informs the group that the identical twins are in fact, their own twin sons and their twin slaves. The knot of misunderstandings are untangled, and the Duke pardons Egeon's life. A family is reunited, identities are completed and a merry feast is to be held.

In 1786, the opera "Gli Equivoci" by Stephen Sorace premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna. The libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte and follows the plot of "The Comedy of Errors" closely although some of the characters were renamed. In the 1980s, the Flying Karamazov Brothers performed a broad adaptation of the play at Lincoln Center. It was later shown on PBS. The play has also been adapted into a musical format three times. "The Boys from Syracuse" was scored by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It won the 1977 Laurence Olivier award for Best Musical. In 1981, "Oh, Brother!" came out with a score by Michael Valenti and Donald Driver. Most recently, it was the source of a hip-hop musical adaptation titled "The Bomb-itty of Errors", winning first place in the HBO's Comedy Festival. The Indian movie, "Angoor" runs with play's plot. It was directed by a man named Gulzar and is considered one of the most acclaimed works in Indian cinema. A new film adaptation produced by Urban Way Productions is set to be shot in 2009. The setting will be in contemporary Iraq.