Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This comedy is a very good comedy with no disguises this time but with two pairs of twins who were estranged by some storm during a sea voyage when they were infants. Plus imagine the father who was estranged from one of each pair and the mother separated in her own way and not even knowing that those who arrived with her in Ephesus were hers. It all turns and whirls around these lost connections and these pairs of twins that create havoc on the main square of Ephesus. The square is full of mountebanks and other street artists, peddlers and vendors, hawkers in one word. And it is a real merry-go-round from one side to the other and all around. They are all so ignorant of the tricky situation they are in that they are all turned into curtal dogs turning the spit in their wheels: "To conclude, this drudge, or diviner, laid claim to me, call'd me Dromio; swore I was assured to her; told me what privy marks I had about me, as, the mark of my shoulder, the mole in my neck, the great wart on my left arm, that I amazed ran from her as a witch: And, I think, if my breast had not been made of faith and my heart of steel, She had transform'd me to a curtal dog and made me turn i' the wheel." (Act III, Scene 2, Dromio of Syracuse). But it is a comedy and that incessant turning may make you dizzy, so the duke will finally put some order in that disorder and the twins will find out their fate and the parents will be reunited and the children will recognize their parents. And to square the dog-wheel, couples will be built to come to the magic number of eight, if possible. The two pairs of twins make four, the parents will make six and the Duke will go to the party with the Courtezan mind you and that will make eight. But you also have the parents, each son with his wife or wife to be, the sister of the previous one, and the Duke and the Courtezan and the two Dromio going their way hand in hand, and that is eight again. Or even the two sons Antipholus, the two brothers Dromio, the two sisters who are married to or will marry the Antipholus, and their parents and you have eight again. Speaking of squaring a whirlwind, Shakespeare here is great. The BBC does a beautiful show because the twins really look like twins and the rhythm is so dynamic that we are really enchanted by the job. It is true too that all actors are perfect in their respective places and the slaps look and sound like slaps and quite many other little tricks like a rope turned into a hanging noose and a schoolteacher who is also a doctor and a great master in the art of dealing with insane people (the schoolteacher as much as the doctor), to his own expense in a way. Good entertaining job.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

Alain English "The Comedy of Errors" is probably one of Shakespeare's more enjoyable comedies, with plenty of beautiful rhyming barbs and a plot with romance, intrigue, mistaken identity and of course the usual celebratory song and dance finale.It's all done with aplomb here, despite a rambling prelude and some awkward split-screen effects near the end. When travelling tradesman Antipholus (Micheal Kitchen) and his assistant Dromio (Roger Daltrey) wind up in Ephesus, a bizarre series of escapades sees them confused with a local nobleman and his servant who not look identical to them but even have the same names. Complications arise with, among others, the nobleman's wife Adriana (Suzanne Bertish), her servant Luciana (Joanna Pearce) and the Duke of Ephesus (Charles Gray).It's weird to see a member of "The Who" doing Shakespeare but Roger Daltrey acquits himself well and makes a fine double act with Micheal Kitchen. Bertish is wonderfully feisty as Adriana, and Cyril Cusack bookends the play as the twin's hapless father Aegeon.The only serious problem is the staging. This story might have worked better on location, as the sets look too much like a Blue Peter style TV studio. Despite some fancy camera-work, it still detracts from the effect.If you can ignore this, it's easy enough to enjoy this delightful comedy frolic

tonstant viewer This play is not as feeble as, say, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," but it's not terribly strong either. Directors have a tendency to throw in distractions to up the level of interest: Trevor Nunn threw in nine songs, Greg Mosher added a clown and a drag queen, and here James Cellan Jones throws in a mime troupe.I don't care what his rationale was, there are three things in life worth avoiding: folk dancing, incest and commedia dell'arte. The mimes are superfluous, annoying and nowhere near as interesting as they are supposed to be.Getting past that, this is neither the strongest nor the weakest of the BBC Shakespeares. The set is a cheerful stylization of a tiny town on the Aegean, with a surprising amount of atmosphere. It's easy on the eyes and is also built in the round, so no matter which way the camera looks, you remain solidly within the physical setting.Cyril Cusack and Wendy Hiller get the acting honors, with a tip of the hat to Charles Gray.The master and servant pair from Syracuse are relaxed and benign, those from Ephesus are sour and prone to violence. Since the TV camera would not forgive two sets of actors pretending to be identical twins, one single actor plays both Antipholi (?), and another both Dromios. Michael Kitchen labors over a case of flu to differentiate his characters. Roger Daltrey is sincere and good-natured, but way out of his depth here and best passed over in silence.The trouble, as so often with farce, is the pace. Though things start off promisingly and finish well, that droop in the middle is serious.So, not a show for the ages, but not the worst thing ever to happen to the Bard.

boxduty I was a bit worried at the beginning, (I just hate 'fire-eaters' in merry crowd scenes..and unfortunately there are jugglers and mimes too,another hate of mine)So I was tensed from the start.Luckily it didn't deter me, and I was able to enjoy a great performance from Michael Kitchen, and an amateur but still enjoyable one from Roger Daltry.OK,the plot is corny, the set minimal.So what? It's a fun production and I enjoyed it. (I even smirked a few times)Not the most crucial Bard Product but recommended all the same!