Ephesus is quite the place. It has its name in stage lights and you only have to open a door to hear the sound of wild partying. When it’s time for a feast, someone arrives with a pile of pizza boxes. It is brash, metropolitan and a little dodgy – the home of wheeler-dealers and people who will keep stumm for a price.
No wonder Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio look as if they don’t know what has hit them. It is not only the weird accusations people keep making against them in this unfamiliar town, it is also the hectic pace of it all. Played by Angus Miller and Michael Guest, they are eager-to-please tourists, all smiles and unguarded charm as they try to get along with the locals. At one point, Guest shows up with an “I Heart Ephesus” tote bag.
How different to Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant Dromio. Played by the same actors at a switch of one of designer Jessica Worrall’s peaked caps, these two are tough and worldly wise. They treat attack as the best form of defence and are more angered than bemused as the cases of mistaken identity mount up in Shakespeare’s comedy of confusion. Even when they meet their doppelgangers, they look set to pounce.
Director Dominic Hill, returning to the play for the Citizens theatre after a Covid-curtailed run last year, brings an exuberance of his own to this tale of two sets of identical twins unknowingly at large in the same city. Performing in Scottish Opera’s temporary tented venue, the actors drift casually around the stage – and sometimes into the audience – breaking into the odd song and delivering lines into microphones, standup style. There are touches of slapstick (even a custard pie), a running gag involving a door buzzer and a modern-English plot summary to spare us the opening exposition.
It is fun and often funny, but also rather busy. The attention to detail is impressive, as are the high-energy performances and the fluid staging. But the manic activity can distract from the central story, which is short on comic bewilderment. You breathe in the air of comedy more than you actually laugh.
At Live at No 40, Glasgow until 3 September; Perth theatre, 7–17 September. Details here.
