25 Except in special cases, the commentary notes do not repeat Tilley’s and Dent’s cross-references to Shakespearean plays other than Errors that employ a given proverb. Proverbs included in both Tilley and Dent are cited from Dent.
26 My main source for terminology has been Richard Lanham’s A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, although I have also had recourse to Lee Soninno’s A Handbook of Sixteenth-Century Rhetoric and other works.
APPENDIX 3
Casting and doubling
The chart lists speaking parts by scene. The Comedy of Errors has nineteen speaking roles; its non-speaking ones include the assistants to Doctor Pinch (see 4.4.108 SD) and the ‘Headsman’ and ‘other Officers’ (5.1.127.3) attending the Duke in the last act. Act 5 requires thirteen speaking characters and several additional attendants to be onstage at the same time, presumably accounting for all the available actors. If the Headsman and a minimum of two officers, all enacted by hired men, are assumed for the Duke’s entourage, and if those same extras could have served earlier in the scene as ‘others’ (5.1.32.2), then the minimum number of performers needed for Errors is sixteen. The five female speaking parts would require at least three boy actors (for Adriana, Luciana and the Courtesan). The Abbess could have been played by a fourth boy actor or perhaps by an adult. The part of Luce could be doubled either with that of the Abbess or (see Var., 509) with the Courtesan. To distribute nineteen speaking roles among thirteen actors, doubling would be required. A range of combinations is possible, two attractive ones being the Jailer doubled with the Officer, and, especially, Egeon doubled with Doctor Pinch. The first possibility links Egeon’s potentially fatal detention with his Ephesian son’s comic arrest. The second draws Egeon’s romance melancholy closer to the dark madness of the farce. The Syracusan merchant, deprived, wan and weary, bears some resemblance to the ragged, beggarly and hungry Pinch whom Ephesian Antipholus describes with revulsion as Egeon stands by (see 5.1.238–46). Ephesian Dromio likewise associates the two (at 5.1.295). The hired man John Sinkler was noted for taking the parts of thin, narrow-faced characters, so he may have played Doctor Pinch and also doubled as Egeon. According to Donald W. Foster, however, Shakespeare (rather than Sinkler) played Egeon; if so, Shakespeare might have doubled as Doctor Pinch: the playwright as false conjuror has metatheatrical appeal. In either case, that possible doubling allows for a shadow of sadness to touch both the romantic and farcical domains. Some productions also double the Antipholuses and the Dromios, the staging problems of the last scene notwithstanding (see Introduction).
DOUBLING
Richard Burbage probably took the role of Antipholus of Syracuse and Will Kemp that of Dromio of Syracuse, the largest and second largest parts respectively (on lines per part, see King, Casting, 168). Thomas Pope specialized in clown characters (Gurr, Company, 238) and may have played Dromio of Ephesus. Beyond Shakespeare, the other 1594 Chamberlain’s Men shareholders and likely performers were George Bryan, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips and probably Will Sly (Gurr, Company, 13), whose roles are harder to specify.1 Heminges, according to Astington, was apparently a ‘chief player in most of Shakespeare’s plays’, so he may have taken the part of Antipholus of Ephesus (201).
DOUBLING CHART
Actor
1.1
1.2
2.1
2.2
3.1
3.2
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
5.1
1
Duke
Duke
2
Egeon
Egeon
3
Jail.
4
Ant. Syr.
Ant. Syr.
Ant. Syr.
Ant. Syr.
Ant. Syr.
Ant. Syr.
5
1 Mer.
6
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
Dro. Syr.
7
Dro. Eph.
Dro. Eph.
Dro. Eph.
Dro. Eph.
Dro. Eph.
Dro. Eph.
8
Adr.
Adr.
Adr.
Adr.
Adr.
Adr.
9
Luci.
Luci.
Luci.
Luci.
Luci.
Luci.
10
Ant. Eph.
Ant. Eph.
Ant. Eph.
Ant. Eph.
11
Ang.
Ang.
Ang.
Ang.
12
Balt.
13
Luce
14
2 Mer.
2 Mer.
15
Off.
Off.
16
Court.
Court.
Court.
17
Pinch
18
Mess.
19
Abb.
* * *
1 In his will, Augustine Phillips left a ‘bass viol’ (Astington, 209), an instrument that Syracusan Dromio associates with the Officer’s appearance (4.3.23). It is tempting to wonder whether Dromio might just
be making an extra-dramatic allusion to the Officer-actor’s musical interests.
ABBREVIATIONS AND REFERENCES
Unless otherwise stated, the place of publication is London. References to Shakespeare’s works other than The Comedy of Errors are to The Riverside Shakespeare, with exceptions as indicated. All biblical references are to the Bishops’ Bible (1568) (STC 2099), except as otherwise noted. Abbreviations of parts of speech follow the conventions of the OED.
ABBREVIATIONS
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES, INTRODUCTION AND APPENDICES
attrib.
attributed to
ed.
edited by
edn
edition
eds
editors
EM
Early Modern
LN
Longer Notes
ME
Medieval English
n.d.
no date
n(n).
commentary note(s)
om.
omitted (in)
opp.
opposite
pt
part
repr.
reprinted (in)
rev.
revised (by)
SD
stage direction
sig., sigs
signature, signatures
SP
speech prefix
STC
Short Title Catalogue
subst.
substantively or substantially
TLN
through-line numbering in Hinman, First Folio
t.n(n).
textual note(s)
trans.
translated (by)
( )
surrounding a reading in the textual notes indicates original spelling; surrounding an editor’s or scholar’s name indicates a conjectural reading
*
precedes commentary notes when they involve readings in this edn substantively altered from F
WORKS BY AND PARTLY BY SHAKESPEARE
AC
Antony and Cleopatra
AW
All’s Well That Ends Well
AYL
As You Like It
CE
The Comedy of Errors
Cor
Coriolanus
Cym
Cymbeline
E3
King Edward III
Ham
Hamlet
1H4
King Henry IV, Part 1
2H4
King Henry IV, Part 2
H5
King Henry V
1H6
King Henry VI, Part 1
2H6
King Henry VI, Part 2
3H6
King Henry VI, Part 3
H8
King Henry VIII
JC
Julius Caesar
KJ
King John
KL
King Lear
LC
A Lover’s Complaint
LLL
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Luc
The Rape of Lucrece
MA
Much Ado About Nothing
Mac
Macbeth
MM
Measure for Measure
MND
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
MV
The Merchant of Venice
MW
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Oth
Othello
Per
Pericles
PP
The Passionate Pilgrim
PT
The Phoenix and Turtle
R2
King Richard II
R3
King Richard III
RJ
Romeo and Juliet
Son
Sonnets
STM
Sir Thomas More
TC
Troilus and Cressida
Tem
The Tempest
TGV
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Tim
Timon of Athens
Tit
Titus Andronicus
TN
Twelfth Night
TNK
The Two Noble Kinsmen
TS
The Taming of the Shrew
VA
Venus and Adonis
WT
The Winter’s Tale
REFERENCES
EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE COLLATED
Alexander
William Shakespeare: The Compete Works, ed. Peter Alexander (1951)
Andrews
The Guild Shakespeare: ‘The Comedy of Errors’, ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, ed. John F. Andrews (Garden City, NY, 1990)
Arber
A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London, 1554 –1640 AD, ed. Edward Arber, 5 vols (London, 1875 –94)
Ard1
The Comedy of Errors, ed. Henry Cuningham, The Arden Shakespeare (1907)
Ard2
The Comedy of Errors, ed. R.A. Foakes, The Arden Shakespeare, Second Series (1962)
Ayscough
Stockdale’s Edition of Shakespeare, ed. Samuel Ayscough (1784)
Baldwin
The Comedy of Errors, ed. Thomas Whitfield Baldwin (Boston, Mass., 1928)
Bevington4
The Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington, 4th edn (New York, 1997)
Boswell–Malone
The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, ed. Edmond Malone and James Boswell, 21 vols (1821)
Cam
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. William George Clark, John Glover and William Aldis Wright, 9 vols (Cambridge, 1863 – 6)
Cam1
The Comedy of Errors, ed. Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson, The New Shakespeare (Cambridge, 1922)
Cam1a
The Comedy of Errors, ed. John Dover Wilson, The New Shakespeare, 2nd edn (Cambridge, 1962; repr. 1968)
Cam2
The Comedy of Errors, ed. T.S. Dorsch, The New Cambridge Shakespeare (Cambridge, 1988)
Cam2a
The Comedy of Errors, ed. T.S. Dorsch, rev. with new intro. Ros King, The New Cambridge Shakespeare (Cambridge, 2004)
Capell
Mr William Shakespeare: His Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, ed. Edward Capell, 10 vols (1767– 8)
Clark & Glover
see Cam
Collier
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. John Payne Collier, 8 vols (1842– 4)
Collier2
The Plays of Shakespeare, ed. John Payne Collier, 8 vols (1853)
Collier3
Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, Tragedies, and Poems, ed. John Payne Collier, 6 vols (1858)
Collier4
The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, ed. John Payne Collier, 6 vols (1878)
Cowden Clarke
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke, 4 vols (1864)
Cuningham
see Ard1
Delius
Shakspere’s Werke, ed. Nicolaus Delius, 7 vols (Elberfeld, 1854 – 61)
Dyce
The Works of Shakespeare, ed. Alexander Dyce, 6 vols (1857)
Dyce2
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. Alexander Dyce, 9 vols (1864 –7)
Dyce3
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. Alexander Dyce, 9 vols (1875 –7)
F
Mr William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, The First Folio (1623)
Fc
First Folio, corrected state
Fu
First Folio, uncorrected state
F2
Mr William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, The Second Folio (1632)
F3
Mr William Shakespear’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, The Third Folio (1663)
F4
/> Mr William Shakespear’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, The Fourth Folio (1685)
Foakes
see Ard2
Folg2
The Comedy of Errors, ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, The New Folger Library Shakespeare (New York, 1998)
Gentleman
Bell’s Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays, As they were performed at the Theatres Royal in London, ed. Francis Gentleman, 10 vols (York, 1774)
Halliwell
The Works of William Shakespeare, ed. James O. Halliwell, 16 vols (1853 – 65)
Hanmer
The Works of Shakespear, ed. Thomas Hanmer, 6 vols (Oxford, 1743)
Hanmer2
The Works of Shakespear, ed. Thomas Hanmer, 6 vols (1745)
Harness
The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, ed. William Harness, 8 vols (1825)
The Comedy of Errors Page 51
