Dunedin's Globe Theatre is celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with its first production of one of his earliest plays. Rebecca Fox talks to director Ellie Swan about The Comedy of Errors.
Ellie Swann is glad her latest production at the Globe is so far not living up to its name.
In fact, the production of The Comedy of Errors is going extremely well, thanks to a dedicated cast and her new-found flexibility, she says.
‘‘I've learnt to roll with the punches. I've either fixed it or whipped around it. It's been more freeing than I expected,'' she said of her role as director.
The Globe wanted to do a Shakespeare play to mark the 400th anniversary of his death and Ms Swann, a Shakespeare fan, chose The Comedy of Errors because it had not previously been done by the Globe.
‘‘The more I read of the play, the more I appreciated it.''
Its storyline about a man condemned to death for illegal immigration had faint echoes of today's international crisis as refugees cross the Mediterranean in boats landing in Turkey, she said.
‘‘It all fits together nicely. It was a trigger that made me look at the play more closely.''
It was Shakespeare's first comedy and the first and only time he based one of his plays on Menaechmi, by Plautus, following the universal laws of time and space.
‘‘He tried it and didn't like it.''
He played with Menaechmi by adding a second set of twins ‘‘just for the giggles''.
The Comedy of Errors is set in one day, in one place and also tells the story of twins separated at birth, looking for each other.
‘‘As you would expect a comedy to do, it starts with a trial and a man condemned to death - I know right.''
It was a play rarely performed, despite its simple storyline and length - it is the shortest of Shakespeare's plays - because it had a history of production problems, meaning people thought it was too hard.
‘‘This one has a terribly dramatic opening scene that leads us into a light and fluffy story. It is a great long exposition on what had happened up until now ... it juxtaposes so strongly with the comedic action of the play.''
As a result it seemed to be ‘‘swept under the carpet'', she felt.
‘‘The more we've read into it, it is still funny.''
The auditions went well, with ‘‘perfect fits'' found for all 13 characters in the play who, unusually for Shakespeare, all end up on stage at the end for the final scene.
‘‘They all end up standing up, which is unique in itself for a Shakespeare play.''
The cast was diverse, from those who had never performed before to those who were very experienced in Shakespeare and on stage.
‘‘It completely changed my production. I love it. They've come together so wonderfully. Everyone has a very supportive working relationship.''
With only a couple of directing gigs under her belt, Ms Swann was also finding her way.
‘‘It's really cool. It's completely up to me to change it or not. I haven't had a fear of change. I'm completely Zen about it.''
While she had firm ideas how she wanted the play to look, she had ended up being a lot more flexible than she thought she would be.
‘‘I'm not the control freak people accuse me of.''
Due to technical issues, the set design was not what she had envisaged but instead she had decided to make it ‘‘all about the cast''.
‘‘I really wanted the cast to have a fantastic opportunity in theatre. If they have great experience in a play and then also learn and enjoy the text and Shakespeare - that's all I'm aiming for.''
The stage was bare, which was helpful for new actors as they were not weighed down by acoutrements which could disturb their concentration.
‘‘There will be one stone bench which I hope will give a nice illusion to Oamaru stone.''
As the set was plain, she had introduced the interest with colour in the costumes.
She was also drawing on the acting workshops she had done while in the United Kingdom at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford Upon Avon.
‘‘It was just incredible.''
When she came back to New Zealand, she discovered her theatre degree had a postgraduate option, so she got stuck into Shakespeare then.
‘‘I lived and breathed Shakespeare.''
That fascination had continued, and Ms Swann was working on a ‘‘side project'' looking at art works and the use of Shakespearean language and how it could be reused in an original way.
To cap off the production and provide a fitting end, its run ends on Shakespeare's birthday.
The Comedy of Errors
•December 28, 1594, believed to be the first confirmed performance
•The setting is Ephesus, in present-day Turkey
•It is the shortest of the plays by Shakespeare
•It is categorised as a comedy
•Shakespeare found the story in Menaechmi by Plautus.
•Believed to have been first printed in 1623 as part of the First Folio
To see
The Comedy of Errors, Globe Theatre, April 14-23
