HAND OF TIME TOUR | SPRING SEASON
And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.
In this rollicking farce, Shakespeare elevates Roman comedy to dizzying heights. Two long-separated twins, their two tricky servants (also twins), a jealous wife, and her lovelorn sister romp through this fast-paced comedy. Filled with mistaken identities and slapstick humor, The Comedy of Errors will have audiences laughing from the first confusion to the last.
Josh Clark, Topher Embrey, and Maddie Calais in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison and Andrew Tung in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison, Constance Swain, Andrew Tung, and Hilary Alexa Caldwell in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison and Topher Embrey in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Andrew Tung and Hilary Alexa Caldwell in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison and Andrew Tung in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Josh Clark, Hilary Alexa Caldwell, and Maddie Calais in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Josh Clark and Topher Embrey in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Topher Embrey, Josh Clark, Constance Swain, J.C. Long, and Kenn Hopkins Jr. in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Kenn Hopkins Jr., Josh Clark, and Topher Embrey in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Topher Embrey and Josh Clark in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Josh Clark, Constance Swain, and Topher Embrey in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
The cast of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Annabelle Rollison and Topher Embrey in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Photo by Marek K. Photography.
Cast
Kenn Hopkins Jr. is an accomplished actor who has brought dynamic performances to ASC, regional theatres, and screen, with captivating roles.
THIS SEASON: Antigonus, Servant, 3rd Lord in The Winter’s Tale; Guard in Antigone; Egeon, Balthazar, Officer in The Comedy of Errors;
THIS TOUR SEASON: Lysander, Snug the Joiner in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Arviragus in Imogen; Connie Rivers, Ensemble in The Grapes of Wrath
THIS SEASON: Caska in Julius Caesar, Mary Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Topher Embrey is an actor at the American Shakespeare Center. Explore his theater experience, education, and background.
Constance Swain is an innovative director whose bold vision and creative energy inspire captivating storytelling at ASC and beyond.
THIS SEASON Chorus in Antigone; Jailor and Old Shepherd in The Winter’s Tale; Jailor and Second Merchant in The Comedy of Errors; Spring in 16 Winters, or The Bear’s Tale. …
Kenn Hopkins Jr. is an accomplished actor who has brought dynamic performances to ASC, regional theatres, and screen, with captivating roles.
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
THIS SEASON: Antigonus, Servant, 3rd Lord in The Winter’s Tale; Guard in Antigone; Egeon, Balthazar, Officer in The Comedy of Errors;
Actor and Assistant Director of MFA Theatre at Randolph College, bringing depth to each role with experience in classic and contemporary theatre.
THIS SEASON: Ensemble (Christmas Past, Tiny Tim) in A Christmas Carol
Kenn Hopkins Jr. is an accomplished actor who has brought dynamic performances to ASC, regional theatres, and screen, with captivating roles.
Actor and Assistant Director of MFA Theatre at Randolph College, bringing depth to each role with experience in classic and contemporary theatre.
Actor and Assistant Director of MFA Theatre at Randolph College, bringing depth to each role with experience in classic and contemporary theatre.
Artistic Team
Desdemona Chiang is a stage director based in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area and Co-Founder of Azeotrope (Seattle). Her directing credits include: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Theater, …
Thomas J. Coppola was part of the American Shakespeare Center from 2015 to 2025.
THIS TOUR SEASON: Quince, Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Caius Lucius, Helen in Imogen; Noah Joad, Ensemble in The Grapes of Wrath
Jessica brings years of costume design and construction knowledge to the ASC, from dying to leather work, design to tailoring, and everything in between. Originally from southern Iowa, she has …
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Constance Swain is an innovative director whose bold vision and creative energy inspire captivating storytelling at ASC and beyond.
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
Lauren has been an actor at the American Shakespeare Center in 32 productions and is currently the Properties Master and Choreographer for the Summer/Fall Season. She has a BA from …
Brandon comes to ASC directly from Connecticut. He has worked as a Technical Director in both professional theatre and concert venues. He looks forward to working in such a unique …
THIS TOUR SEASON: Quince, Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Caius Lucius, Helen in Imogen; Noah Joad, Ensemble in The Grapes of Wrath
The Comedy of Errors has the reputation of being one of Shakespeare’s “early” plays, and along with it, the baggage and presumption of being unsophisticated, silly, immature, or sophomoric — as opposed to “later” plays which are considered more thoughtful and developed (think The Winter’s Tale or The Tempest). We will be challenging and debunking those assumptions in this production.
While I think The Comedy of Errors is certainly one of Shakespeare most technically demanding plays, full of slapstick and extraordinary physical feats, it doesn’t quite assimilate into traditional notions of Shakespearean comedy. It has neither a female protagonist or disguise, nor a romance that leads to marriage.
What is surprising about this play is that it’s a bit of an existential crisis. In The Comedy of Errors, whichever twin is onstage is always the wrong twin. The play gives us few psychological distinctions between the two Antipholuses (or Antipholi?) and Dromios: they serve identical functions in the social system they live in, and their identities are virtually interchangeable. They don’t even have the ability to distinguish themselves by name — their only signifier is one of geographical origin. And for an American audience largely preoccupied with individualism and our own sense of self-importance, this idea can be a bit distressing. Sort of like a nightmare where you’re slowly finding that you’re living a life that doesn’t seem to be yours.
Antipholus of Syracuse has an astute moment in Act I, Scene 2 where he realizes:
I to the world am like a drop of water
That in the ocean seeks another drop,
Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself:
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself.
The Comedy of Errors is a story of the search for the whole, that in searching for your other, you come closer to finding yourself, and in doing so, lose yourself to something greater.
Desdemona Chiang
Guest Director
Stuff that happens before the play
- Twenty-five years ago, a shipwreck separated a family. Egeon, the father, lost his wife and one of their twin sons. The twins are identical and both named Antipholus, and each has an identical enslaved twin named Dromio.
- Antipholus of Syracuse, the twin raised by Egeon, has been traveling the world with his Dromio to find his brother. They arrive in Ephesus.
- The other twin, Antipholus of Ephesus, has become a wealthy man while living in Ephesus with his Dromio.
- Egeon is arrested for violating a travel ban between Ephesus and Syracuse.
Stuff that happens during the play
- Egeon explains that he violated the travel ban on penalty of death to find his lost family members. The Duke grants Egeon another day to raise the money to stop his execution.
- Adriana, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband. Dromio of Syracuse is told to allow no one to enter the house.
- Antipholus of Ephesus arrives but is refused entry to his own home.
- Antipholus of Syracuse falls in love with Adriana’s sister, Luciana. Luciana is disgusted with his behavior, believing him to be her brother-in-law.
- A golden chain, ordered by Antipholus of Ephesus, is mistakenly delivered to his brother. Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for it (since he never received it) and is arrested. Adriana believes her husband has gone mad and holds him in a cellar.
- Antipholus of Syracuse and his Dromio decide to flee the city, believing it is enchanted.
- The Syracusans are intimidated by the debt officer and Adriana, so they hide in an abbey.
- False accusations, reunions, and hilarity ensue…