The Comedy of Errors (1623)

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Title: The Comedy of Errors
Series: ----------
Author: William Shakespeare
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Play, Comedy
Pages: 272
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

20+ years ago, a family with twin sons and a servant with twin sons, were separated at sea. Now they all come together in the city of Ephesus and mistaken identity comedy errors ensue. With a lot of beatings for the servant twins, who both can't seem to keep their mouths shut.

The error is realized and everyone ends up happy. The End.

My Thoughts:

This completely did not work for me as a read. The humor was not funny on the page nor did the situational humor do a thing for me. I kept wanting to shout “Somebody USE YOUR BRAIN!”

I can see this being very funny if acted out, much like a 3 Stooges scenario. But those wouldn't be funny either on paper. The actors are what make the situations funny, not just the situations themselves.

I also don't find humor about marriage funny. Me and Willy have very different outlooks, that is for sure. That doesn't stop me from being glad to read this or to appreciate it. I just don't like it * grin *

★★☆☆½ ( )

If I was searching for my long-lost twin brother and arrived in a town where everyone mistook me for somebody else, I think I'd figure out that something was up. Just sayin'. ( )

Fast and facile. A Shakespearean sit-com – clever and silly, but with no depth. This one, more than most, I think, needs to be seen performed to be properly appreciated – I imagine all the mix-ups might be quite entertaining, properly acted. Unfortunately I read it, along with a Librivox recording by a cast that included some really talented readers, some who were clearly new to the English language, and a robot. In fairness I'll admit that I'm generally luke-warm on the comedies, aside from “Much Ado, so my lack of enthusiasm probably doesn't say much about the actual merits of this play. ( )

Read in high school, thought it was funny. ( )

Really excellent insults and figures of speech throughout a ridiculous play. This play should not be performed "straight," or read silently--you need a framing device, or great physical comedy, or *something* to bring it up to the level of Shakespeare's other plays. Because there really isn't much to this farce, and what little substance there is, is a bit sketchy (ah, beating one's slave--hilarity!). Also, I hate mistaken identity stories, so I was prejudiced against this from the start. ( )