Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
June 22, 2010
Shakespeare: Master of Adaptation
Illustration: the third-century B.C. performance of a Roman comedy by Plautus, re-imagined by sixteenth century engravers.
Shakespeare was a master of adaptation. Very few of his plays are completely original. For many, he took interesting stories which he read – whether fictional or historical – and reinterpreted them to make them work onstage. To write other plays, he took pre-existing plays and updated them to work for his audiences. The Comedy of Errors is a play of the second sort.
The play is a 16th century version of a mash-up, a music track where two very different songs are mixed together to create a totally new song. Shakespeare collided two of the famous Roman playwright Plautus’ plays to create Comedy. Consequently, Comedy has more in common with Roman farce than his later comedies. While his comedies begin to get darker as he matures, Shakespeare leaves Comedy as light as its sources, relying on slapstick and wordplay very similarly to Plautus. However, he adds an element of romance which is lacking in the original, as well as a Christian abbess who comes in to save the day at the end. These elements appealed especially to an Elizabethan audience – Shakespeare used adaptation to make a play more relevant for the audience who would be watching it.
Shakespeare’s affair with adaptation is especially relevant for Court’s production of Comedy. Sean Graney has again readapted the play, making it an adaptation of an adaptation. Like Shakespeare, Graney has adapted the play to appeal more to today’s audiences. I don’t want to give too much away, but expect cross-dressing, crazy wigs, and a witty misuse of Shakespearian English which will make you totally reevaluate Shakespeare’s use of words. Finally, you have the chance to laugh at all those Shakespearian terms which sound so funny.
So when you come see Comedy, you have the rare opportunity to see a story being retold multiple times onstage. Try to pick out what comes from Plautus, from Shakespeare, and from Graney – this is your chance to see how classics grow, change, and transform over time. This play is built on a long, exciting tradition of adaptation.
—Will Bishop, Production Dramaturgy Intern
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare opens September 16, 2010. It is adapted and directed by Sean Graney, the founder of the Hypocrites.
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