The Comedy of Errors Tickets

One of William Shakespeares earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre. The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeares one of the most farcical comedies, with ultimate comic setup.

Though there are broken families, a troubled marriage, slavery, grief and anger, frequent violence, but the play is not about these issues and touches them briefly before skating on to happier, funnier subjects.

And, because this play is a comedy, everything that threatens the laughter is eliminated at the end. The audiences moments of unease quickly give way to laughter. The story sets in an enmity between Ephesus and Syracuse and tells the story of two sets of identical twins.

The Comedy of Errors begins with a monologue from the twins father Aegon recapping he background of twins. There are two sets of identical twins separated shortly after their birth and raised apart. They came together again after 20 or so years later in a flurry of comic mix-ups. Aegons search for his twins leads to his arrest as an enemy in Ephesus.

While Aegon is in jail, the Syracuse Antipholos is also in Ephesus in search of his family roots. Aegeon tells Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus, his tale that he was shipwrecked many years ago while sailing with his wife, Aemilia and two pairs of identical twins and that he lost his wife, one of his sons and one of his servants. Both sons were named Antipholus, and twin servants were named Dromio.

At eighteen, Antipholus and Dromio left Syracuse for Ephesus to search for their long-lost twins. Unaware of his long lost fathers plight, the Syracuse Antipholos and Dromio are still searching for their lost roots in Euphesus for five years. Solinus, moved by the old mans tale, postpones Aegeons sentence till he produces a ransom, or will be put to death.

Unlike his father, the Syracuse Antipholos receives a curiously familiar reception from the townspeople and Adriana who seems to think he is her husband. Meanwhile, Angelo, a merchant is commissioned by Antopholus of Ephesus. Angelo gives a gold chain to Antipholus of Syracuse by mistake and tells him that he will come back later for payment.

Later on, Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay him as he was not given any chain. Angelo has him arrested. Around this time, Adriana and her sister, Luciana, are convinced that the Ephesus Antipholus and Dromio have gone mad. For realizing things are getting out of hands, this leads sisters to forcibly restrain Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus and take them to a doctor.

When Adriana encounters Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse, she thinks that Ephesus Syracuse and Dromio have escaped from the doctor. In the meantime, the Ephesus Antipholus and Dromio somehow manage to escape from the doctor, and arrive to petition the Duke as Aegeon is being led to his death.

The Syracuse Antipholus ends up invited to dinner at the home of the Ephesus and dines with his twins wife, Adriana. Unsurprisingly, the Syracuse Antipholos is more attracted to Adrianas sister Luciana. Since Adriana is unknown to them, the Syracuse duo is forced to flee into a nearby abbey for refuge.

While everyones trying to tell their varying accounts of the day, suddenly the Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse arrive with the abbess.

Abbess turns out to be Aemilia, Aegeons long-lost wife. Now everyone begins to understand the confused events of the day.

Upon knowing that Abbess is Egeons wife, the Duke pardons Egeon. Not only are the two sets of twins reunited, Antipholus of Syracuse is set to marry Luciana, and all has been put to right. Everyone exits into the abbey to celebrate the reunification of the family.