Dominic Cooke’s imaginative, superbly acted and contemporary production of The Comedy of Errors stars Lenny Henry and is on at the National Theatre until April 2012.

Original performance conditions

Two sets of twins separated at birth collide in the same city but without meeting. Mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale particularly for Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio. Consistently recognised by strangers, the visitors question their very selves as the turmoil escalates.  A buzzing metropolis, to the outsiders, Ephesus is a place of wonderment and terror, where baffling gifts and unexplained hostilities abound. Lenny Henry plays Antipholus of Syracuse in Dominic Cooke’s 2011 production of The Comedy of Errors.