Brilliant, hilarious and totally surreal

In a short review from last year, The Jewish Chronicle gave The Comedy of Errors' stay at the Lowry four stars, saying:

Edward Hall's magnificent production is one big party, with slapstick, musical jokes, bawdiness in the best Shakespearean tradition, and a few crazy and seriously off-script diversions. 

Hall insists Shakespeare does not need to be made more accessible because that would suggest "dumbing down". He has simply cranked up the fun factor to strike the same chords as the play did when the Elizabethan peasants filled The Globe theatre 400 years ago. 

And it works.

[e]

Best of Beantown

Richard III and The Comedy of Errors ranked 3 and 4 on The Bay State Banner's best of Boston theater list, which called them "the kind of exuberant revivals that reassured jaded Shakespeare buffs."  [e]

Brave Potatoes

While the Comedy of Errors interval show has already been represented on this blog, it seems the boys expanded their repetoire while on the road. Here is the extended version with even more 80's goodness:



[e]

Congrats!

Propeller has won Best Touring Production from Theatre Awards UK for Richard III and The Comedy of Errors. BBC News, Variety, Playbill and WhatsOnStage all have coverage.

Congratulations!  [e]

Directory: The Comedy of Errors (2011)

PREVIEWS

All male Propeller company to stage two Shakespeare classics at The Lowry

Chester Chronicle, 03/03/2011
UMS and Britain's all-male Propeller theatre company bringing 'Richard III' and 'Comedy of Errors' to town
AnneArbor.com, Jenn McKee, 03/24/2011
All-Male Troupe Propeller Will Bring Shakespeare in Rep to Huntington Theatre

Playbill.com, Adam Hetrick, 04/26/2011

Acclaimed Propeller Theatre Company Comes to Boston

Broadway World, 04/26/2011

To do list

Boston Globe, June Wulff, 05/18/2011

Cranking Up Shakespeare at BU Theatre

BU Today, Susan Seligson, 05/18/2011

William Shakespeare mit Propeller: Richard III. und The Comedy of Errors (translated)
Shakespeare at the Globe Neuss, 07/2011

REVIEWS

Comedy of Errors -  Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

The Public Reviews, Sarah Lyth, 01/20/2011

Comedy of Errors (Sheffield)

WhatsOnStage.com, Ron Simpson, 01/20/2011

The Comedy of Errors

The British Theatre Guide, Velda Harris, 01/21/2011
The Comedy of Errors (22nd January 2011, Sheffield)
Between the Acts, Julie Raby, 01/23/2011

Expect the unexpected in 'Comedy of Errors'!

Mature Times, Eileen Caiger Gray, 01/24/2011

Theatre Review - A Comedy of Errors

One More Dawn, Sarah Grant, 01/27/2011

Richard III and The Comedy of Errors

DigYorkshire.com, Sarah Cockburn, 01/28/2011

Propeller's The Comedy of Errors (Sheffield Lyceum & Touring)

Boycotting Trends, Alex Ramon, 01/30/2011

The Comedy of Errors/Richard III - Review

The Guardian, Lyn Gardner, 01/30/2011

Review: The Comedy of Errors, Propeller at Sheffield Lyceum

There Ought To Be Clowns, Ian Foster, 01/30/2011

Richard III/The Comedy of Errors, Sheffield Lyceum, review

The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish, 01/31/2011

The Comedy of Errors/Richard III, Theatre Royal, Newcastle, UK

Financial Times, Ian Shuttleworth, 01/31/2011

The Comedy of Errors

The Stage, Michael Coveney, 01/31/2011

Keystone Cops take on Shakespeare — it's a hoot

The Times, Libby Purves, 01/31/2011
The Comedy of Errors
musicOMH, Linda Jameson, 02/2011

Review: The Comedy of Errors at Theatre Royal, Newcastle

The Journal. Barbara Hodgson, 02/02/2011

Comedy of Errors, Theatre Royal

The Chronicle, Amy McClean, 02/02/2011

The Comedy of Errors, Propeller at Newcastle Theatre Royal

The Northern Echo, Viv Hardwick, 02/03/2011
Richard III and The Comedy of Errors; Greenland - review
The Observer, Susannah Clapp, 02/06/2011
The Comedy of Errors / RIchard III, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
The Independent, Michael Coveney, 02/07/2011
The Comedy of Errors - Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
The Public Reviews, 02/2011
Theatre Review: The Comedy of Errors @ The Belgrade
The Ninth Word, Daniel Jesson, 02/10/2011
The Comedy of Errors (Propeller) @ The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
The Bardathon, Peter Kirwan, 02/10/2011
Review: 'Comedy of Errors' @ The Belgrade Theatre
The Book of Tomorrow, 02/12/2011
REVIEW - The Comedy of Errors, King's Theatre Edinburgh
Edinburgh Spotlight, Danielle Farrow, 02/2011
The Comedy of Errors at the King’s, Edinburgh, makes for feisty, fun packed, farce
All male Shakespeare company Propeller's slapstick approach to the Bard reaps rich rewards
STV, Alan Chadwick, 02/23/2011
Review: The Comedy of Errors, King's Theatre
Scotsman, Colin Blyth, 02/23/2011
Propeller's Sparkling Comedy of Errors
PlayShakespeare.com, Christopher Adams, 02/24/2011
Music review: The Comedy of Errors, King's Theatre
Scotsman, Joyce McMillan, 02/27/2011
The Comedy of Errors, Kings Theatre, Edinburgh
The Herald, Neil Cooper, 02/28/2011
The Comedy of Errors, Propeller: The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
The Oxford Times, Giles Woodforde, 03/02/2011
Propeller's The Comedy of Errors & Richard III
Jildy Sauce, 03/08-09/2011
Comedy of Errors - The Lowry, Salford
The Public Reviews, Jim Gillespie, 03/09/2011
The Comedy of Errors
The Journal, Alexandria Wingate, 03/09/2011
The Comedy of Errors
CityLife, Lauren Steadman, 03/09/2011
Review: The Comedy of Errors at The Lowry, Salford
The Daily Post, Malcolm Handley, 03/09/2011
Review: The Comedy of Errors, A fun-filled Shakespeare farce, and no mistake
The Jewish Chronicle, 03/10/2011

13 and 14- Richard III and Comedy of Errors, Propeller

52 Plays, Ellie D., 03/15/2011
Giving Shakespeare His Sombrero and Kazoo
The New York Times, Ben Brantley, 03/18/2011
Double Up With Laughter at BAM's 'Comedy of Errors'
Patch, Melanie White, 03/18/2011
BAM's absurd 'Comedy'! Shakespeare goes vaudeville in British production
The Brooklyn Paper, The Butcher of the Flatbush Avenue Extension, 03/18/2011
Stage Door: The Comedy of Errors
Huffington Post, Fern Siegel, 03/19/2011
Theater Review: "The Comedy of Errors," A rollicking good time
The Epoch Times, Judd Hollander, 03/28/2011
Music and energy drive Propeller's 'The Comedy of Errors'
AnnArbor.com, Jenn McKee, 04/01/2011

The Comedy of Errors (Plymouth)

WhatsOnStage.com, Karen Bussell, 05/04/2011

The Comedy of Errors, Propeller, The Watermill Theatre

The Oxford Times, Christopher Gray, 05/04/2011

All-male troupe's Shakespeare outrageously entertaining

Cape Cod Times, Alicia Blaisdell-Bannon, 05/23/2011

Bravo for Bard's 'Comedy,' 'Richard'

Boston Herald, Daniel Gewertz, 05/23/2011

The Bard, light and dark, back to back

Boston Globe, Don Aucoin, 05/24/2011

Don't miss Bard's 'Comedy of Errors'

Dorchester Reporter, Chris Harding, 5/26/2011

Shakespeare Double Bill, Propeller, Hampstead Theatre

The Arts Desk, Matt Wolf, 06/26/2011

Richard III / Comedy of Errors, Hampstead - review

London Evening Standard, Henry Hitchings, 06/27/2011

The Comedy of Errors/ Richard III, Hampstead Theatre, London

Financial Times, Sarah Hemming, 06/27/2011

The Comedy of Errors (Propeller)

WhatsOnStage.com, Maxwell Cooter, 06/27/2011

Comedy of Errors/ Richard III, Propeller, Hampstead Theatre, review

The Telegraph, Charles Spencer, 06/27/2011

Review: The Comedy of Errors and Richard III

The Daily Express, Julie Carpenter, 06/29/2011

Re-review: The Comedy of Errors, Propeller at Hampstead Theatre

There Ought to Be Clowns, Ian Foster, 07/02/2011

Shakespeare-athon: @propellertheatr Comedy of Errors and why I now like Shakespeare's comedies

Rev Stan's Theatre Blog, Rev Stan, 07/03/2011

Propeller Revisited: Richard III & Comedy of Errors (Hampstead Theatre)

Boycotting Trends, Alex Ramon, 07/04/2011

Theatre review: The Comedy of Errors (Propeller at the Hampstead Theatre)

So Anyway, NIck, 07/05/2011

Trash zum Weglachen (translated)

NGZOnline, Helga Bittner, 07/15/2011

The Comedy of Errors

The Irish Times, Peter Crawley, 07/21/2011

INTERVIEWS

Edward Hall: Chainsaws and pickled princes

The Guardian, Andrew Dickson, 01/18/2011
The king of comedy (Ed Hall)
The Northern Echo,  Viv Hardwick, 01/27/2011
theatreVOICE (Ed Hall)
Dominic Cavendish, 01/29/2011
Interview: Ed Hall, director, The Comedy of Errors
Edinburgh Evening News, Liam Rudden, 0217/2011
Livlig Shakespeare i Helsingör (Robert Hands) (translated)
Sveriges Radio, 08/04/2011

ARTICLES

A new spin on Shakespeare

The Independent, Alice Jones, 01/26/2011
Propeller's peculiar spin on Shakespeare
The Journal, Barbara Hodgson, 02/01/2011
On a wing and a prayer
The HErald, 02/22/2011
Theatre Talkback: Speaking the Words of Shakespeare, Trippingly
The New York Times, Ben Brantley, 03/24/2011
A Pop Culture Twist in Shakespeare at BAM
The Local, Alex Palmer, 03/28/2011

A LETTER FROM LONDON: From Ibsen to Miller to Shakespeare, It's Midsummer Madness in London

Playbill.com, Ruth Leon, 07/31/2011

PHOTOS

Rehearsal Photos

Huntington Theatre Website

Rehearsal Photos

Huntington Theatre Facebook Page

Production Photos

Manuel Harlan Photography

VIDEOS

Interval Performance

Sheffield, 01/21/2011
Video Trailer
02/2011
UMS Audience Reactions
Michigan, 07/2011
Creating the music for Richard III and Comedy of Errors
Michigan, 07/2011
Performance Clips
Verona, 07/2011
Interval Performance
Verona, 08/2011
Dr. Pinch
Verona, 08/2011

AUDIO

Livlig Shakespeare i Helsingör (Robert Hands) (translated)

Sveriges Radio, 08/04/2011

EDUCATION

The Comedy of Errors/Richard III Education Pack

Propeller Official Site, 2011

BEHIND THE SCENES

UMS Blog Posts
UMS Lobby, Leslie Stainton and Jen Leija, 03/30/2011

TWITTER

January 21-22

January 23-26

January 28

January 29
February 1-5
February 8-12
February 15-20

Interval Video

Also from Verona, Propeller's interval show:



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Comedy of Errors in Verona

Someone got part of Comedy of Errors on camera, so here's a bit of Tony Bell's Pinch:



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Audio from Kronborg Castle

Robert Hands talked with a radio program whilst at Kronborg Castle. Translated text of some of the interview is here and the original is here. He touches on audience interaction and working with an all-male cast. Be sure to click on the audio link on the original link to listen (I promise there is English in there eventually). There are some audio clips from Comedy of Errors in the piece as well!

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A Letter From London

Over on Playbill.com, Ruth Leon has written a bit about Propeller in her occasional 'Letter From London'. After going to a full day of Comedy and Richard, Leon writes "while my posterior was complaining by 11 PM, my mind and emotions weren't". She also notes that part of the fun with Propeller is seeing actors play vastly different roles from show to show, singling out Richard Clothier for playing Richard with the "requisite degree of menace in the evening" as well as a "hilarious duke in the afternoon".

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More Comedy Clips

The boys are in Verona now, with a new video trailer highlighting Comedy of Errors, including the interval show and the musical performances of Tony Bell and Dominic Tighe.  [e]

Elizabethan "Yo momma's so fat" jokes

In his review in The Irish Times, Peter Crawley wonders if Propeller's The Comedy of Errors has missed the play's "darker traction". While he enjoyed Jon Trenchard's "engaging" Dromio, the performance "mutes a deeper comment on the casualties of fate". And though Robert Hands' Adriana is an "amusing parody of vexed womanhood", it "smothers the casual betrayal" of Antipholus. Crawley happily notes the "artfully arranged live music" and Richard Frame's "expertly comic Dromio", but wants more meaning from the production.

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Reviews from Neuss

Helga Bittner of NGZOnline has reviews of The Comedy of Errors (original German and hilariously translated) and Richard III (original and translated).

Bittner says Comedy is "wonderfully fun", and calls the many slapstick scenes the "reincarnation of the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python". Tony Bell's Pinch is "simply delicious", and the pairing of Jon Trenchard and Richard Frame and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart and Sam Swainsbury is praised.

Richard III is a "caricature of the horror film genre" that goes "beyond the striking exhibit of brutal and mindless violence". Led by the "wonderful" Richard Clothier, the production finds the "right mix of funny, scary and moving images". Bittner also lauds the use of puppets to portray the two young princes, saying it is "masterfully done, so that they look almost the most human of all".

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To Germany!

This post is mostly for posterity's sake, as I can tell you very little about this item from the Shakespeare Festival in Germany's homepage. From what I can gather reading the hilariously Google-translated version, it is a nice little introduction of Propeller and a look at the pairing/history of Comedy and Richard III. I apologize on behalf of Google to all German speakers.

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[who almost asked the frail old German lady at her office to translate]

Some Quick Notes

Another blog review of Comedy of Errors thinks the production could do with a "touch of restraint", but is still "great fun" and recommended as an introduction to Shakespeare. Special mention is given to Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, Sam Swainsbury, Jon Trenchard, and Richard Frame for being "well-matched twins", and Robert Hands and David Newman as the "delicious" Adriana and Luciana.

(This blog post has since become unavailable  [e])

Richard III and Comedy of Errors are briefly mentioned in Lyn Gardner's theatre tips, in a round-up of shows you may have missed, and again in a short piece about the Galway Arts Festival in the Irish Times.

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Not the Second Coming

Going into any show with high expectations can be disappointing, as one blogger found upon seeing Comedy of Errors, though most of the blame is laid on the material itself, which "takes a while to actually get funny". But once it does, this is "as good a production of The Comedy of Errors as you're likely to see". Many favorite bits are mentioned, but special note is given to David Newman, being a "perfect example of how using a man's physicality while playing a woman can be hilarious without it being about laughing at the man in a frock".

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Get Thee to Swiss Cottage

Another blogger to revisit Richard III and Comedy of Errors is Ian Foster. And while he doesn't have anything new to add about Richard, he thinks Propeller's Comedy is "about as definitive an interpretation of the play" he will ever see. Foster makes special note of Jon Trenchard's arrangements of 80s classics in the interval, and laments Dominic Tighe "overlooking" his offer of marriage, all the while wondering "why anyone wouldn't love this".

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Loving the Comedies

Blogger Rev Stan has a new opinion of Shakespeare's comedies after seeing Comedy of Errors--that they can "actually be funny, consistently funny and not just amusing". Propeller's "physical interpretation" of the play is what works so well, with "plenty of slapstick" to keep audiences entertained. Robert Hands, David Newman, and Kelsey Brookfield are singled out for their men in drag performances. The show is "gaudy, loud, riotous and in your face" and Stan "can't help thinking the man himself would heartily approve".

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Revisiting Favorites

Blogger Alex Ramon recently wrote about a second viewing of both Richard III and Comedy of Errors. Ramon had seen both productions earlier in the tour (see original review of Richard here and of Comedy here) and was, he says, a bit nervous to go again ("Will it be as good as I remember it?"). Happily, the productions "more than passed the test, having lost not an ounce of their freshness and exuberance in the intervening months". Having viewed both productions within a few days of each other this time around, Ramon found the "versatility, vitality and sheer damned brilliance of the ensemble even more apparent".

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"A Revolutionary Experience"

UMS audiences react to The Comedy of Errors.  [e]

Hitting the Right Notes

A video from Propeller's stay at UMS wherein Ed Hall talks about creating the music for Richard III and Comedy of Errors.  [e]