In this scene, we repeat the comic bit of Antipholus repeatedly striking Dromio with his hat, only this time, it’s the other Dromio. They up the ante by chasing each other around the bench; Dromio also slides under the bench to try to avoid being beaten, thus taking the physical comedy one step farther.
Dromio ends up with the hat, and proceeds to hit Antipholus with it. By having Antipholus beat Dromio with his hat for a second time, we establish a physical vocabulary for the comedy. Repetition enhances humor. Having Dromio turn the tables by beating Antipholus with the hat adds a twist to the comedy: the element of surprise. I missed an opportunity here to repeat this comic bit a third time, with yet another twist. Doing so would have gotten a bigger laugh than before, due to comedy’s rule of three. Perhaps at the very end of the play as the two sets of twins recited the line, “We came into the world like brother and brother,” they could have given each other one more whack on the head with the hat, to put a cap on the comedy!
As Adriana and Luciana enter, Dromio and Antipholus are no longer fighting; they are on the same team. Dromio nudges Antipholus to talk to this woman who believes she is his wife. In this scene, Luciana demonstrates her no-nonsense character with physical poses: crossed arms and defiant posture. On each name she calls Dromio, she pokes him in the chest: “Thou drone,” (poke) “thou snail,” (poke) “thou slug,” (poke) “thou sot,” (poke, poke, poke), ultimately backing poor Dromio up against the wall. These physical moves work wonders in accentuating Shakespeare’s words and increasing the audience laughter.
When Antipholus exclaims “And in this mist at all adventures go,” he raises his sword high and jogs out enthusiastically, following the ladies. Simple, effective blocking and physical gestures, combined with actor enthusiasm, helps players and audience alike gain a better understanding of Shakespeare’s text, characters, and relationships. The result is a merry play!
ACT II, SCENE II: ADRIANA MONOLOGUE
In this speech, Adriana beckons the man she thinks is her husband (Antipholus of Ephesus), who is in fact her husband’s twin (Antipholus of Syracuse). When he does not recognize her, she launches into a formidable tirade, which aptly paints a portrait of a passionate married woman with strong opinions on the institution of marriage—and a fiery personality to match.
Adriana begins the monologue with sarcasm. When she says, “Look strange and frown,” she is not describing what she wishes Antipholus to do. Rather, she is stating her distaste for Antipholus’ facial expression, prefacing her remarks with “Ay, ay.” She might even imitate his face by facially mirroring Antipholus’s blank, confused expression. If playing the speech as part of the scene, you can mimic the face Antipholus is making; if playing the monologue solo, you can simply invent a ridiculous face and express it straight out to the audience. Either way, it will likely get a laugh.
In the second sentence, Adriana’s suspicion is immediately evident: “Some other mistress hath thy sweet aspects.” The Folger Shakespeare Library notes for The Comedy of Errors indicate that the second syllable of “aspects” is emphasized. This will give you the opportunity to really spit out the word, with the sharp “-ects” sound cutting through the air like a knife. Utter it with heartache and fury.
The third sentence continues with derision: “I am not Adriana, nor thy wife.”
The words “Adriana” and “thy wife” can be emphasized. Color these words to express Adriana’s true feelings. Try saying “thy wife” with anger, and then try the phrase again with pain in your voice. Perhaps both emotions will make their way into the phrase. Study the whole speech and some of Adriana’s other earlier speeches in this scene and in Act II, Scene I. Invariably, when you are familiar with a character’s arc throughout the whole play, you are better able to deliver a nuanced speech containing that character’s many facets. Sadness and anger are evident in Adriana’s words. Can you identify any other emotions, perhaps in the subtext? Is there tenderness and love for Antipholus below the sorrow and hurt of perceived infidelity and abandonment?
A shift in tone and content follows the first three lines. Adriana now describes what she and Antipholus had together. She appeals to Antipholus’s senses: hearing, sight, touch, and taste, asserting that it was through his love for her that all his senses were enriched. There is an opportunity here for physical gestures. Something as simple as a soft palm-on-palm motion while speaking the word “hand” can convey the more gentle, wistful tone of this passage. Experiment in front of a mirror, and pick one gesture for the passage that you believe will aptly accompany this sensual set of descriptions.
Until the line that begins with “Unless I spake,” the speech is exclusively written in iambic pentameter. In this line, however, there is an extra beat: “Unless I spake or looked or touched, or carved” is one line of iambic pentameter. Thus, the moment before the words “To thee” emerges as a natural “beat” or breathing point. This beat can give weight to the two words and allow Adriana to pour an extra measure of tenderness into them. The iambic pentameter rhythm is like a heartbeat. When the rhythm is off by an extra beat, you can play it as if Adriana’s heart has skipped a beat, in this case at the mention of her love, Antipholus.
Next Adriana asks Antipholus a question, which shifts the tone from wistful and gentle to perplexed. Throughout this speech, it is important to note that Adriana is responding to an Antipholus who does not even recognize her. In order for the speech to have its full power, Adriana must react to Antipholus’s apparent amnesia at ever having known the woman who he married. Remember to exploit these baffling circumstances to maximize the dramatic impact of this monologue.
Shakespeare uses repetition throughout this passage, which you can use to drive Adriana’s point home and give the speech dynamics. The first two words in the monologue are the same: “Ay” and “Ay.” Make the second “Ay” louder and more powerful than the first. “That never” is repeated four times in a row. Use that repetition like a hammer, emphasizing Adriana’s plight. She repeats “how comes it” twice. When Adriana says something for the second time, you should echo the tone of the first instance but with the intensity raised. She repeats the word “thyself” four times and says “thy dear self” once. In this case, perhaps each instance of the word “thyself” has a slightly different tone, depending on the context in which it is spoken.
The word “self” will sound different when Adriana refers to “thy dear self’s better part” than it does when she implores Antipholus not to “tear away thyself from me.” Not all repetitions are the same. Study the repeated words and phrases and decide how you will use them to poetic and dramatic ends.
Adriana’s exclamation of “Ah, do not tear away thyself from me!” implies that she has either taken Antipholus by the arm or embraced him. If you are playing the scene with another actor, you can physically enact this, but if you are performing the monologue solo, perhaps you could interpret the phrase “tear away” to mean that Antipholus is walking away. If this is the case, you could take a step or two toward him.
This brings up an important point. When speaking to another character in a solo monologue, you must decide where that person is on stage. The character could be the audience as a whole, which can be achieved by looking straight out over the viewers. Another approach is to speak to an imagined person on the stage, presumably to your right or left (or moving across the stage). In the case of Antipholus’s “tearing” himself away from Adriana, whether Antipholus is on the stage or placed in the audience, the line indicates movement, so your eyes should follow Antipholus