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| REVIEWS > the merry wives of windsor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Shakespeare at Williamson Park, Lancaster:
The Merry Wives of Windsor This is a play that is not done often enough. It portrays a duplicitous, obese and cowardly Sir John Falstaff of the earlier ' King Henry' plays in a more mellow, older yet still devious light - some people just never learn! The tale focuses on issues that are as relevant today as they were in the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth, not least the issue of security in high places in and around Windsor! We often think that the malapropism was the invention of Richard Brinsely Sheridan in The Rivals and the preserve of the late Hylda Baker. Not so, for there are plenty here, and despite some scholars' reservations about the lack of erudition and interest in the text of this play, the use of language is as rich as elsewhere in Shakespeare. There is a healthy dollop of dialect too, as the play is mostly written in prose. Adultery, chauvinism, xenophobia, ageism, fattism and many of the other rigourously-enforced PC 'taboos' of our time are here gloriously and bawdily celebrated by Shakespeare. The cast of Heartbreak Productions certainly made the most of that, with an intriguing and totally convincing text from the various early printed editions the play, the standard scholarly texts, and a few judicious contemporary interpolations to boot. All this came over with an understanding as clear as the diction. The resultant visual effect - highlighted by the hankerchief-dangling, the frocks and some of the music - was Restoration Comedy, of which it is in so many ways a direct ancestor. And the cast thoroughly enjoyed, explored and exploited every opportunity - verbal, musical or visual - of this complex piece of deception, scheming and pure fun for all it's worth. The staging was simple and effective, with minimal scenery - a few sheets and some scaffolding in the leafy Dell were enough to create the necessary magic. There were some fascinating and innovative visual and other devices from Director/Editor Peter Mimmack which put icing onto an already rich and fruity cake. One of the eponymous wife's husband, Frank Ford, disguised himself in order to catch Falstaff out, and the effect was pure Groucho Marx. The idiosyncratic music was fun too. Mozart to arrive to, Michael Nyman for the Restoration, the Mareseillaise for the much-despised French Doctor Caius ('by Gar', though it's not pronounced like that!), and Cwm Rhondda for the hapless Cambrian Cleric, Sir Hugh Evans. The piece was played by a cast of only seven. This involved some ingenious doubling and, with some very inevitable nips and tucks of the text and distinctive costumes, worked. The use of mime and also added to the variety of the dramatic experience. Above all, the cast's excellent delivery embraced a range of accents, not only from Wales and France, but also from Thames to Tyne. All this added further delight to the two hour's chaotic traffic of our stage. There is nothing new under the sun - Shakespeare was a superb comic writer whose legacy has endured. The laundry basket and disguise as an old crone can easily be imagined at Fawlty Towers or Blackadder, and where did I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue get their banter from? The cast executed these frolics with a professionalism to match their contemporary successors. Congratulations to Heartbreak for reminding us so vividly of the timelessness of the sheer exhilaration, wit and fun that our contemporary lives so often lack. By Gar! Copyright © Michael Nunn 2003 LINKS • Heartbreak Productions Other reviews from this Shakespeare in the Park season: • The Merry Wives of Windsor • Much Ado About Nothing • Romeo and Juliet |
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