A Whole New World for "A Comedy of Errors"

Shakespearean steampunk featured at this year’s Bard on the Beach

Since its first production at Bard on the Beach in 1995, A Comedy of Errors has been a favourite of director Scott Bellis’s productions—though the Vancouver stage has never seen it done quite like this before.

Inspired by storytellers Jules Verne and H.G. Welles, this iteration of the Shakespearean comedy classic sees the world of ancient Greece reimagined in the steampunk aesthetic. “Steampunk,” according to Bellis, “is an eclectic world of cogs and rivets. It is airships, goggles and steam. It is romance. It is travelling on clouds and diving beneath rugged waves. It is adventure.”

Every design element in the production, from the set-up of the stage to the props to the actors themselves, carries this unique style throughout the play. The costumes are a specific delight because, as the narrative primarily focuses on the exploits of twins, the wardrobe department had to invent some creative ways to allow the audience to distinguish between the near identical actors. With one set of twins, their socks played a pivotal role in establishing who was who—with another pair, it was a simple, though elegantly placed, shoulder cover.

A Comedy of Errors is about madness, loss, identity and reconciliation. It begins with a merchant and father, Egeon, who travels to Ephesus in search of the twin sons he lost in a storm at sea many years ago. The twins, now grown men with a set of similarly displaced twins serving them, have grown up in separate cities, never knowing they are one half of an identical twosome. Like their father, they find themselves in the city of Ephesus and must, through love or through madness, reconcile themselves to their true identities.

While at times hard to follow, this production of A Comedy of Errors means to distinguish itself from the somewhat traditional idea of a Shakespearean play. The actors provided plenty of humour, including the servile twins, Dromio, played by women, and the housekeepers in dresses, played by men. In this way, though the setting is far from anything even Shakespeare could have imagined for his play, Bellis’ adaptation stays true to the Bard’s narrative and absurdist sense of humour.