Sunday, November 22, 2009
Comedy...Errors...Etc.
I was very impressed by this production of Comedy of Errors. I had not previously read or seen the play performed before. I particularly enjoyed the performances of the two Dromeos, who both had a knack for physical comedy. The pretense for the miscommunications that occur throughout the play is pretty goofy, but the stilted setup creates some very funny moments that are useful for understanding communication. One idea about communication to take away from this play is that context is everything. Each time a misunderstanding occurs in the play, it is the result of two characters entering a situation with a) incomplete information and b) false assumptions. Without the full knowledge necessary to understand their interlocutor and their situation, it is impossible for the various characters to fully understand what is going on in each situation. I enjoyed the play and thought it to be a great introduction to the topic of our class.
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Although the language used in the play was hard to follow, I had a great time. I enjoyed the performances of all the people in the play. As well as you I was impressed with the production, but also quality of the acting of the main characters.
ReplyDeleteBrett - I very much appreciate your analysis of the context as being a feature in each of the "errors" that occurs. Incomplete information and false assumptions are surely the root of many of our problems in communicating in the ordinary world. Much more so when we attempt to reach a bigger audience in our presentations. I thought it was helpful that those of us in the audience the production company gave extra cues in the form of cultural devices we could understand --to help us understand what the language did not always make clear to us.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the play as well. I felt like I was watching spanish tv, hard to understand. The north woods spin was very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteBrett,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the physical comedy. It was funny and allow me to understand the play. I had a hard time at the beginning of the play, the language was very difficult to understand.