The Comedy of Errors (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick)

The Comedy of Errors is the lighter of Shakespeare’s two twin plays, written while both his own twins were still alive. Egeon and Emelia had identical twin boys who themselves had twin boys as their servants.

Separated by shipwreck, father and one set of twins ended up in Syracuse and mother and the other twins in Ephesus. Decades later, the Syracuse twins arrive in Ephesus, searching for their long-lost brothers and Emelia.

Unknown to them, Egeon is also in town and has only a day to raise the ransom which will save his life (Syracuse and Ephesus are mortal enemies). Emilia is in town too, though she is now an Abbess.

Oh, and both the servants are called Dromio, and both Egeon and Emilia’s sons are called Antipholus. Cue the Ephesus Antipholus’s wife (Adriana) welcoming Syracuse Antipholus rather too warmly, the Syracuse Antipholus falling in love with Adriana’s sister Luciana, the Ephesus Antipholus’s complicated love life coming to light, servants being cuffed around the stage for not doing what the other servant was told to, and so on, the whole topped off by a grand reunion.

Director Ian Forrest ensures plenty of inventively farcical action for the audience to enjoy and by setting the play in the 1930s cleverly takes aim at the kind of ‘sensitive upper-class Brits abroad’ nostalgia which briefly infested TV and movie screens in the early 1980s.

The upper-class Europeans’ poise and sophistication disintegrates in minutes, and with two comically uncomprehending servants and two increasingly short-tempered masters, it’s as if a Merchant Ivory production has been crossed with a double dose of Basil and Manuel.

Martin Johns’ vibrantly colourful bazaar setting, full of locals shaking their heads at these crazy foreigners, complements this aspect perfectly as well as allowing plenty of room for some old fashioned chases round the stage.

Bryn Holding as the Syracusean Antipholus is an engaging presence, directly addressing the audience to keep us up to speed with his spiralling bewilderment.

Cate Cammack’s Adriana is comically frantic through her husband’s neglect even before the action even gets going, something nicely highlighted by Jennifer English’s studiedly bored Luciana, burying her head in a book while her sister shows herself up.

Henry Devas brings just enough edge to the other, more disreputable, Antipholus. There is fine ensemble support from the rest of the cast, with some genuinely moving moments from Laura Cox’s Abbess and Peter Rylands’ Egeon.

The reunion ends with a cheerfully communal dance to ensure we leave in high spirits and the slick comic performances, and bags of pace and energy make this show a winner.