''The Comedy of Errors'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

with a book and lyrics by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...

and music by Guy Woolfenden. It is based on the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play, ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. It ...

'', which had previously been adapted for the musical stage as ''

The Boys from Syracuse ''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play ''The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporar ...

'' by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, B ...

and

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. Early years Abbott was born in Forestville, New Y ...

in 1938. The London production won the

Olivier Award for Best New Musical The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in ...

in 1977.

Background

While enjoying a holiday in

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

, Antipholus and Dromio of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

are mistaken for their long-lost twin brothers Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus by Adriana, who is married to the latter. Certain her husband's wandering eye has noticed the many temptations awaiting him in town, she is determined to win back his undivided attention. Comic complications arise when she pursues the wrong Antipholus and tries to woo him home. The theatre critic Irving Wardle said of the score, "It does not give you much to hum on the way out, but it supplies a springboard into dramatic song and dance." The original

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

production received generally good reviews and was described as "stylish, colorful, and rich in comic detail" by various critics.

Productions

The Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Nunn, choreographed by

Gillian Lynne Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...

, and designed by

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioan ...

, opened at the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

on 29 September 1976. The cast included

Mike Gwilym Mike Gwilym (born 5 March 1949) is a Welsh actor. Early life Born in Neath, Gwilym is the brother of actor Robert Gwilym, son of Arthur Aubrey Remington Gwilym and Renée Mathilde Eugénie Léonce Dupont. His parents were the proprietors of a ...

as Antipholus of Ephesus,

Roger Rees Roger Rees (5 May 1944 – 10 July 2015) was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''. He also re ...

as Antipholus of Syracuse,

Nickolas Grace Nickolas Andrew Halliwell Grace (born 21 November 1947) is an English actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of ''Brideshead Revisited'', and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s seri ...

as Dromio of Ephesus, Michael Williams as Dromio of Syracuse, and

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

as Adriana, with

Francesca Annis Francesca Annis (born 14 May 1945) is an English actress. She is known for television roles in '' Reckless'' (1998), '' Wives and Daughters'' (1999), ''Deceit'' (2000), and '' Cranford'' (2007). A six-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won the 19 ...

Richard Griffiths Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For his performance in the stage play '' The History Boys'', Griffiths won a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, the Drama Desk ...

, Griffith Jones, and John Woodvine in supporting roles. The production later transferred to the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

in the West End in London, where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 1977. Philip Casson directed a television production based on Nunn's concept for ITV. With most of the original cast, the programme was broadcast on 18 April 1978.

The Acting Company The Acting Company is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic Mel Gussow has called it "the ma ...

staged the musical at the Women's Project Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in May 2001. It was directed by

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

and choreographed by Joey McKneely. The production then toured the United States.Goffstein, Davi
"National touring company brings one run, two hits, including Errors, to Scottsdale"
'The Phoenix New Times'', April 26, 2001

Awards and nominations

Original London production

References

External links

''The Comedy of Errors'' (musical)
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comedy of Errors, The 1976 musicals Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals Musicals based on plays Plays and musicals based on The Comedy of Errors West End musicals British musicals