The Kyogen of Errors (Comedy of Errors)

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USER: Whatsonstage.com - 19 July 2001:

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to see when I turned up at Shakespeare's Globe for The Kyogen of Errors. I knew it was based on the Comedy of Errors and that it was being played in the Kyogen style, but that was it. Kyogen theatre is one of the classical theatre arts of Japan and dates back to the 14th Century, though from the middle of the 14th Century it has been regularly played alongside Noh theatre as the 'comic interlude'. Kyogen is, unashamedly, comic and base. It can abound in cheap jokes, slapstick and visual humour whilst still, to Western Eyes, having that wonderful control and formalism of other Japanese theatre styles. This production, written and translated by Yasunari Takahashi has been directed by Mansai Nomura, one of Japan's leading Kyogen actors as well as a film and TV star. It is frankly one of the most enjoyable evenings of theatre I have had in a long time. I found myself enjoying the show not only for its technical skill and visual impact but also for the humour, both verbal and visual, and the speed with which they tell the story. Its all over in just over 100 minutes (no interval) and it could have lasted much longer before the magic would have worn off and those hard Globe seats got the better of me. The central premise of two sets of identical twins is kept, and indeed all the major scenes of the original are there, but the play has been re-set into Japan and the names have been changed to Japanese ones. The p0laying of the twins is excellently managed with masked and unmasked acting providing some of the clue and the script the rest. The scene with Ishinosuke (Antipholus) and Taro-kaja (Dromio) shouting over the gate to get into their house and being answered from inside by the other Taro-Kaja is superbly handled with us seeing both inside and outside the compound and Mansai Nomura playing both Taro-kaja parts - switching between them so smoothly and so in time with the precision movements of the other actors and chorus that it left me laughing out loud and still chuckling today. It was an appreciative audience, despite occasional rain, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I certainly did, and the visiting American English professor next to us was on his way home to do the play himself fired with enthusiasm and ideas by what he had just seen. This is an evening without subtle sub-text or political message. The play and the actors are not trying to tell us anything. The whole thing is geared towards just having a good time - and I did. Put aside any pre-conceptions you may have and go yourself, and don' t forget to see the superb models in the "Wrap the Globe in Washi" exhibition next door. ...

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