This revision of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors is in no way intended to take the place of a serious study of the original work. It is, rather, a revision to make the play a suitable stage vehicle for high school and college drama groups which would otherwise shun it because of the language difficulties involved.

This thesis explores the process of building community over time, through collaboration, to rehearse and produce a portable production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, looking at the elements of time, trust and age with an ensemble of ten men, all actors over the age of 55. The building of trust over time was vital to the production process and the actors had the time to embody their roles and the language of the play. We look at the questions “why this play,” “why all men?” and “why theatre?” and investigate the physical nature of the play and its violence a la Three Stooges or Punch and Judy. We will look at the themes of aging, discrimination and the search for family and identity, all of which have resonance today, through the lens of play.

The aim of this work is to investigate the possibility that Francis Bacon was a contributor in the writing of three Shakespeare plays: The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and The Tempest. In order to proceed, I develop a new Rare Collocation Profiling (RCP) method using Chadwick–Healey’s Early English Books Online (EEBO) database to identify those collocations in a target text that are rare. I then list the probable sources of a target and the writers who possibly borrowed from it. In this way, I obtain a DNA-type profile in relation to the target text for all frequently occurring writers that are returned by the searches. However, while collocation analysis is traditionally confined to a database of known dramatists, I widen the search to include all fully searchable texts in EEBO. My test case is the long poem A Funeral Elegye (1612), and my method supports Brian Vickers’ conclusion that John Ford is a better authorial candidate than William Shakespeare. I also analyse two previously unattributed pamphlets: the Gesta Grayorum (1688), an account of the 1594–5 Gray’s Inn revels; and the True Declaration (1610), a Virginia Company propaganda pamphlet, and I conclude from my method that Francis Bacon is the only candidate for having compiled the former and that he was a major contributor to the latter. Two of the Shakespeare plays, The Comedy of Errors and Love’s Labour’s Lost have previously been associated with the 1594–5 Gray’s Inn revels. I analyse the three volumes of Nelson and Elliott’s Records of Early English Drama: Inns of Court (NE) to find that the number of professional companies that played at the Inns of Court (one of which is Gray’s Inn) before 1606 has been overestimated. A document shows that Shakespeare’s company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, were playing at Greenwich on 28 December 1594 when, as the Gesta Grayorum reports, The Comedy of Errors was performed at Gray’s Inn, and the circumstances do not allow Shakespeare to have been present. The evidence suggests that the play was first enacted by Inns of Court players rather than the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Inns of Court plays were often based on translations of classical works and usually commented on the succession question. I argue that The Comedy of Errors displays both of these characteristics and so was likely written with the revels in mind. Also, due to certain rare parallels between Francis Bacon’s speeches at the revels and Love’s Labour’s Lost, I claim that the play was intended for performance there but cancelled. Referring to the results of RCP, I suggest that Francis Bacon not only compiled the Gesta Grayorum but also contributed to the writing of these two plays. I also show that my new method identifies two non-members of the Inns of Court, Thomas Heywood and Thomas Dekker, as later revisers of these plays. In the final chapters, I improve on the dating evidence for The Tempest by showing that Caliban’s speech on edible items relies on knowledge of the Bermudan cahow, a bird whose behaviour was unknown in England before September 1610. The application of RCP to The Tempest confirms that William Strachey’s ‘True Reportory’, a 20,000-word secret report sent back from the Virginia colony to the London Virginia Company, was beyond reasonable doubt a source for the play. RCP also reveals Francis Bacon as a contributor to the writing of the play. I also apply the new method to the Virginia Company’s True Declaration, a pamphlet that almost certainly relied on ‘True Reportory’, and reveal Bacon as a contributor. This means that he must have inspected Strachey’s ‘True Reportory’, a source for The Tempest. I give strong reasons why Shakespeare would have been prohibited from gaining access to Strachey’s restricted company report. Finally, I suggest that The Tempest was used as a political tool to promote England’s influence in the New World, and although Strachey’s ‘True Reportory’ could not have been released for inspection, the Virginia Company must have cooperated in supplying information for the writing of the play.

This dissertation offers fairly full readings of three early Shakespearean comedies. Because these works are still partly misunderstood, it has seemed reasonable to lay the critical emphasis on explication, though a certain amount of judging has been inevitable. The aim has been to induce recognition of aspects of these plays to which much modern criticism has seemed opaque.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The present thesis deals with the impact of the ancient Greek farce on modem literature with specific reference to the play Kinkels innie Kabel (1971) by the contemporary Afrikaans author André P. Brink. This play is loosely based on Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, which in tum derives from Plautus' Menaechmi. Brink's play thus resonates with an entire European tradition. The relationship between the modem and the ancient farce is studied with reference to the concept of comedy. Comic effects, the difference between comedy and tragedy in respect of the handling of vital issues and the comic vision of the playwright are all taken into account. The analysis of the development of Athenian Old Comedy to the Roman Comedy refers to the contribution of Plautus and Terence to the continuation and revitalisation of Greek New Comedy. A comparison of these two playwrights reveals the characteristics of the farce and the difference between farce and comedy. The modem relevance of the farce is studied on the basis of Brink's text. For this purpose Plautus' original plot, the Shakespearian version and Brink's rendition are discussed and compared. On the basis of the similarities and differences in plot, caricaturisation, misidentifications, politics, fantasy, coincidence, irony, farcical violence, mechanical structure, temporal structure and linguistic register, the influence of the ancient farce on its modem counterpart is demonstrated. In addition to farce, Brink employs the classical devices of satire and parody to drive home his (political) message. Finally it is shown that the farcical in Plautus, Shakespeare and Brink serves a significant and serious thematic purpose. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie verhandeling handel oor die impak van 'n antieke Griekse komedievorm, die klug, op moderne werke en denke. A.P. Brink se verhoogstuk Kinkels innie Kabel (1971) is 'n vrye verwerking van William Shakespeare se The Comedy of Errors. Laasgenoemde werk is weer op sy beurt gebaseer op Plautus se Menaechmi. In sy verwerking van Plautus en Shakespeare laat A.P. Brink die hele Europese tradisie deurklink. Die verhouding tussen die moderne klug en die antieke klug word bestudeer deur te fokus op die term komedie: die verhouding daarvan met lag en hoe die komedie van die tragedie verskil ten opsigte van die hantering van lewensproblematiek en komiese visie van die komedieskrywer, maak deel uit van hierdie bespreking. Die komedie se herkoms en ontwikkeling vanaf die Ou Komedie tot die Romeinse Komedie, val ook onder die soeklig. In aansluiting hiermee word Plautus en Terentius bespreek as twee komedieskrywers wat 'n rol gespeel het in die oorlewering en verlewendiging van die Griekse Nuwe Komedie. Hierdie twee skrywers word ook met mekaar vergelyk sodat die eienskappe van die klug geïllustreer word, en hoe dit in wese verskil van komedie. Die relevansie van die klug in moderne denke word bestudeer aan die hand van Brink se teks. In hierdie verband word daar 'n uiteensetting gegee van die oorspronklike Plautiniese verhaal, die Shakespeariaanse weergawe en die Brinkiaanse teks. Aan die hand van die ooreenkomste en verskille in intrige, karikaturisering, identiteitsvergissings, politiek, die fantasie-element, toeval, ironie, klugtige geweld, die meganiese struktuur, die tydstruktuur en taalregister word die invloed van die antieke klug op die moderne klug geïllustreer. Benewens die klug word Brink se werk ook verder beïnvloed deur twee klassieke middele, met name satire en parodie. Hiermee bring Brink sy (politieke) boodskap tuis. Ten slotte word die dieperliggende temas in Plautus, Shakespeare en Brink se werk bespreek deur aan te toon dat die werk nie net om die klugtige gaan nie, maar ook die meer ernstige.