The Comedy of Errors (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Series)

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, great finish
Review: When performing <The Comedy of Errors> on stage, you obviously need two actors for each set of twins (or you get into bad trouble at the end when they all meet). A recording needs no such casting, and yet the Arkangel set gets roles for two extra men. Fine with me. This recording starts with the long tale of the Father recited to piano music, thereby causing instant confusion as to the time frame of this production. (The "All's Well That Ends Well" has a locomotive pulling into a station!) Also a good deal of the humor is removed from the speech, which is indeed a spoof on the genre. But when we hear a good old fashioned Laurel and Hardy metallic clunk to let us know that one of the Dromios has just gotten a konk on the noggin, we know where we stand. Between the older Harper set [see the review on this page by a Reader from Florida] and this there is little to choose castwise, except the sound on the Penguin tapes is naturally much better. Since both are available, you might almost toss between them. But on its own terms, this is a fine production of a very silly play, the likes of which Shakespeare wisely chose never to repeat.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, great finish
Review: When performing on stage, you obviously need two actors for each set of twins (or you get into bad trouble at the end when they all meet). A recording needs no such casting, and yet the Arkangel set gets roles for two extra men. Fine with me. This recording starts with the long tale of the Father recited to piano music, thereby causing instant confusion as to the time frame of this production. (The "All's Well That Ends Well" has a locomotive pulling into a station!) Also a good deal of the humor is removed from the speech, which is indeed a spoof on the genre. But when we hear a good old fashioned Laurel and Hardy metallic clunk to let us know that one of the Dromios has just gotten a konk on the noggin, we know where we stand. Between the older Harper set [see the review on this page by a Reader from Florida] and this there is little to choose castwise, except the sound on the Penguin tapes is naturally much better. Since both are available, you might almost toss between them. But on its own terms, this is a fine production of a very silly play, the likes of which Shakespeare wisely chose never to repeat.

<< 1 >>