his house, he simply drew the outline of a door in the air), the stage was thronged with people—the masked grotesques, clowns, and courtesans of Venetian carnival. The ensemble was in full play. Not only did Williams and the company rehabilitate the play as entertainment, but they found a key to it: “The wild comedy of irrational recognitions is given consistency and a curious force by the suggestion that there is, behind it, something vaguely disquieting,” 48 wrote Harold Hobson, a view echoed by Michael Billington: 49 “Two things make it remarkable: Mr Williams’s recognition of the fact that Shakespeare’s farce about double identical twins is rooted in human character, and his ability to highlight the weirdness and mystery inherent in the story.”
The Birmingham Mail’s
critic observed, “I am taking bets that it will not be 24 years before
The Comedy of Errors
is done again.” 50
In fact, this production had a long afterlife of its own: it played for another season at Stratford in 1963, then transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London for two seasons, as well as touring nationally and internationally in 1964 and 1965 before being revived in Stratford in 1972. This revival was another piece of troubleshooting, for 1972 was the season when
Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra
, and
Titus Andronicus
were produced under the title “The Romans.” To leaven the tragedy, Trevor Nunn’s intention had been to include a new production of
The Comedy of Errors
, played in Roman costume to emphasize its origins in the work of Plautus. The intended director, however, had to withdraw and Nunn turned to Williams, who was heavily committed to other work and had no time to rethink the play, but agreed to re-create the 1962 production. He was able to spend only two weeks with the cast before leaving to fulfill commitments in Scandinavia and leaving rehearsals to his assistant director, Euan Smith. Interestingly, though neither Smith nor any of the young cast had seen the 1962 production, what emerged from rehearsal was remarkably similar to the original.
1976—The Musical
After the success of the 1962 production and its long afterlife in London, on tour and in revival, the next director of the play for theRSC would be faced by a huge challenge. Trevor Nunn addressed it by directing a production that was as different as possible from the Williams concept: “Nunn moves from the balletic economy of Clifford Williams’s version to the opposite extreme of lavish ornamentation, not to mention reworking the piece as a musical.” 51 The RST stage was festooned with fairy lights, flanked by cafés and overflowing tourist stalls, and peopled by mobsters and prostitutes. While never losing lightness of touch or an eye for comic potential, Nunn anticipated the malaise of the 1980s by suggesting that Ephesus is a world ruled by money, where acquisitiveness is the primary motivation and bartering, buying, and selling so dominate every interaction that nobody really notices who they are talking to.
To a jazzy score, composed by Guy Wolfenden, the lyrics, built from turning points in the plot, had the effect of heightening unreality. So, for example, Egeon’s predicament at the opening, in which he must find someone to pay his ransom or be put to death, was worked up into a chorus number, in which advice was offered about how to find the money. The production transferred to the Aldwych Theatre and returned for a second season at Stratford the following year.
4. In 1976, Trevor Nunn’s production went to the extreme of “lavish ornamentation”; the RST stage was festooned with fairy lights, flanked by cafés and overflowing tourist stalls, and peopled by mobsters and prostitutes.
1983—Roaring Ragtime Circus
Nunn’s triumphantly successful musical, following the Williams production, raised the bar even higher for the next attempt. In 1983, Adrian Noble, again at the RST, responded with a production rooted in
The Birmingham Mail’s
critic observed, “I am taking bets that it will not be 24 years before
The Comedy of Errors
is done again.” 50
In fact, this production had a long afterlife of its own: it played for another season at Stratford in 1963, then transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London for two seasons, as well as touring nationally and internationally in 1964 and 1965 before being revived in Stratford in 1972. This revival was another piece of troubleshooting, for 1972 was the season when
Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra
, and
Titus Andronicus
were produced under the title “The Romans.” To leaven the tragedy, Trevor Nunn’s intention had been to include a new production of
The Comedy of Errors
, played in Roman costume to emphasize its origins in the work of Plautus. The intended director, however, had to withdraw and Nunn turned to Williams, who was heavily committed to other work and had no time to rethink the play, but agreed to re-create the 1962 production. He was able to spend only two weeks with the cast before leaving to fulfill commitments in Scandinavia and leaving rehearsals to his assistant director, Euan Smith. Interestingly, though neither Smith nor any of the young cast had seen the 1962 production, what emerged from rehearsal was remarkably similar to the original.
1976—The Musical
After the success of the 1962 production and its long afterlife in London, on tour and in revival, the next director of the play for theRSC would be faced by a huge challenge. Trevor Nunn addressed it by directing a production that was as different as possible from the Williams concept: “Nunn moves from the balletic economy of Clifford Williams’s version to the opposite extreme of lavish ornamentation, not to mention reworking the piece as a musical.” 51 The RST stage was festooned with fairy lights, flanked by cafés and overflowing tourist stalls, and peopled by mobsters and prostitutes. While never losing lightness of touch or an eye for comic potential, Nunn anticipated the malaise of the 1980s by suggesting that Ephesus is a world ruled by money, where acquisitiveness is the primary motivation and bartering, buying, and selling so dominate every interaction that nobody really notices who they are talking to.
To a jazzy score, composed by Guy Wolfenden, the lyrics, built from turning points in the plot, had the effect of heightening unreality. So, for example, Egeon’s predicament at the opening, in which he must find someone to pay his ransom or be put to death, was worked up into a chorus number, in which advice was offered about how to find the money. The production transferred to the Aldwych Theatre and returned for a second season at Stratford the following year.
4. In 1976, Trevor Nunn’s production went to the extreme of “lavish ornamentation”; the RST stage was festooned with fairy lights, flanked by cafés and overflowing tourist stalls, and peopled by mobsters and prostitutes.
1983—Roaring Ragtime Circus
Nunn’s triumphantly successful musical, following the Williams production, raised the bar even higher for the next attempt. In 1983, Adrian Noble, again at the RST, responded with a production rooted in
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