On May 31, Shakespeare LIVE! is coming to the New Providence High School Auditorium and to perform The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare LIVE! is run by The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey which has its main stage at Drew University in Madison, NJ.  As a result of the hard work of Mrs. Trimble and Ms. Eckes, all Juniors and Freshmen will attend the performance, which was made possible by a grant from the NPEF, the New Providence Education Foundation.  Ms. Eckes and Mrs. Trimble are very excited for the performances because they teach the World Literature and British Literature courses that study the works of William Shakespeare.  “The play coming to our school provides a great opportunity for students to get the real experience of a Shakespearean play,” said Ms. Eckes.

William Shakespeare originally intended for his plays to be acted and performed to audiences, and many students here will be able to see a liveShakespearean play for the first time instead of just reading one.  Also, this will be a new experience for some students because it is a comedy rather than a tragedy.  A majority of Shakespeare’s works in the NPHS curriculum, such as Julius Caesar, MacBeth, and Romeo and Juliet are all tragedies.  Shakespearean comedies are characterized by a greater emphasis on situations than characters, involving a struggle of young lovers, multiple intertwining plots, and last of all, a happy ending.  This is very different from the tragedies, which always end leaving the audience feeling sad and depressed for the characters.  

Written between 1589 and 1595, The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays.  Its main characters are two sets of identical twins, Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus, and Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus.  They are mistakenly separated at birth, and the plot of the story involves how Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse travel to Ephesus and meet the friends and family of their long lost twins.  Syracuse and Ephesus are two rival cities, and the visit from Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse leads to a lot of conflict.  Their identities are mistaken, and this leads to a lot of confusion in the city of Ephesus.  The twins coincidentally meet at the end of the play and embrace each other.  Both Mrs. Trimble and Ms. Eckes are sure that all 9^th and 11^th graders will enjoy the crazy laugh riot that ensues.