The Merry Wives of Windsor, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford - review
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
In this inspired and memorable production, director and composer Fiona Laird has stripped out the boring bits, ramped up the comedy and transferred the action to brassy, blingy modern-day Essex with pool parties, beauticians and barbecues.
And at times, the result is pure pantomime and the tinkering with the text gives us some great moments.
In the original, Sir John Falstaff is hidden in a wicker basket. Here he gets the modern-day equivalent and we hear the unforgettable line: "Look - there's a wheelie-bin!"
Purists may hate it but would Will Shakespeare himself object to a pair of Essex serving men turning out to be Polish graduates who debate Proust between the slapstick? I think not.
At the heart of the show is one of Britain's finest actors. David Troughton's performance as Falstaff is magical, a sweaty, blubbery self-deluding oaf with a hyperactive codpiece who seriously imagines both Mistress Page, played by Rebecca Lacey, and Beth Cordingley's Mistress Ford are lusting after him.
It is an old-fashioned tale of folly, deception and punishment, brought up-to-date with energy and inventiveness. In every scene, expect the unexpected, as when the Welsh parson Sir Hugh Evans, portrayed by David Acton, leads the audience in a chorus of Bread of Heaven. Marvellous.
The Merry Wives of Windsor is at Stratford until September 22. It will be live screened at selected cinemas on September 12.
