Director's Notes

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Before the play begins...

Egeon, successful Merchant of Syracuse, became the proud father of twin boys. He and his loving wife, Æmilia, named them both Antipholus, (was that wise?) They bought another pair of baby twin boys to be servants to their sons when they all grew up, and named them both Dromio, (perhaps another error of judgement?)

Æmilia - tired of being left at home while hubby went on business trips abroad - pleaded with him to take her and the four babies on his next business trip. Being a loving father and husband he agreed. However... it so happened that on the sea voyage they encountered violent storms, shipwreck and separation. Egeon managed to save only one Antipholus and one Dromio and they settled in Syracuse and from that day to this Egeon had no idea what had become of the rest of his family. When they grew up, Syracusian Antipholus and his servant Dromio felt a great need to find their respective twins, and leaving Egeon behind set off to search the world for them. Five years later Egeon, feeling worried and lonely, decided to hoist sail too to look for them, and landed in Ephesus.

Unfortunately, because of a war that has been raging between Syracuse and Ephesus, the Law in Ephesus has decreed that anyone from Syracuse setting foot in their city is condemned to death.

Now it just happens that the lost babies had been rescued and brought to Ephesus, where they grew up. Antipholus is now married and a successful business man, looked after by his servant Dromio.

Now the play begins... and things get more complicated!

Egeon arrives in Ephesus and is condemned to die by sunset. The boys from Syracuse, unaware of Egeon’s presence or dilemma, arrive, and, to their astonishment the Syracusian twins find themselves greeted warmly by everyone! The locals seem to know them and call them by their names. Antipholus appears to have acquired a wife, and generally everyone is acting in a most peculiar fashion. What is going on here? Witchcraft? Sorcery?

Come now and share the fun with us on this journey among men, and women, behaving very strangely, as together we set about making sense of this Comedy of Errors.

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