This is a curious play to my mind - it can't make up its mind whether to be "The Taming of The Shrew" with the final conciliation of the antagonistic couple, or "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the sub-plots of the other lovers and the 'rude mechanicals' of Dogberry, Verges and the chronically-slow Watch. There is also a 'death and resurrection scenario' that recalls "Pericles", "Twelfth Night" and others, and a vicious bastard brother who propels and perverts the action in a manner later seen in "King Lear" and "King John" - another under-rated piece which I was delighted to catch in Scarborough last year.

So what, you say, of last week's show? Chapterhouse Theatre Company, familiar to Lancaster audiences over their four years of existence, did a wonderful job. If the play is a curious mix of curate's egg and the most delicious soufflé followed by a soupy and frothy Zabaglione, so too was the production. After a stunning masque and dance to set both tone and pace, that initial momentum flagged somewhat with the rather too laid-back banter of Beatrice and Benedick.

But not for long. The asynchronous Watch displayed remarkable cohesion (if not co-ordination) in a wild display of Morris Dancing, complete with sticks, preserve us, and a wonderful song from the diaphanous Verges. What the main pair of 'lovers' lacked early on was more than compensated for by the sensitivity and pace of the 'other' couple, Hero and Claudio. The amorous to-ings and fro-ings culminated in a heart-stopping wedding scene with an Iberian-Moorish masque, mime, music and dancing to tingle the spine and move the auditory as well as the visual senses.

The pace gained further momentum as the coruscating language, with a further accretion of the malapropisms enjoyed the previous night in "Merry Wives", was delivered with ever-increasing confidence and speed. These players not only fully understood all aspects of the text (not least the bawdry) but delivered it with clarity and lucidity. They know how to tweak those heartstrings, and the 'memorial' scene, wherein Claudio laments his supposedly-deceased wife, was one of the most moving things I have seen stage in some while. Uniting music, movement and words, the illusion of total grief and finality was complete - you could have heard a pin drop.

Again, not for long, for the varying levels of plot resolve themselves into a cathartic and rumbustuous final reconciliation. As well as Hero and Claudio, also outstanding was the stoic reserve of Leonato, which strongly evoked the stage charisma of the much-maligned Patrick Stewart in some of his more terrestrial roles. And Beatrice and Benedick upped the tempo too with appropriate gusto as both they and the plot got more bewildering and bewildered.

But one character stands out beyond all others. That was the youthful Richard Baker who, thankfully, bears no resemblance to his much older BBC namesake. His portrayal of Verges, a 'Headborough' (parish officer, or perhaps headbanger?) was a cross between Sgt Bilko on speed ('Yip!-Yip!-Yip!') and Julian Clary. He also has a wonderful tenor voice which was used to great effect - seriously, this time, in the songs which enhance the play's more sombre moments. His diction, as clear as that of anyone else in the production, was complemented by his outrageous body language (I can't work out whether it was goose- or chicken-stepping) and his amazing vocal range.

But this is not to deny the all-round excellence of the rest of the cast. Baker is no cheap show-stealer any more than the comic Will Kemp can have been in Shakespeare's day. His contribution was just one of many which served to highlight the ability and vision of director Karen Crow, who has found, integrated and controlled an up-and coming polymath of great potential. She has also created a thoroughly moving, musically exotic and visually delightful evening which resolved all my earlier reservations about this glorious play.

Copyright © Michael Nunn 2003

LINKS
• Chapterhouse Theatre Company

Other reviews from this Shakespeare in the Park season:
• Overall Comment
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Romeo and Juliet

It was a wise choice to play Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare's biggest weepie - last. Director Richard Main evinced some of the most beautiful and sensitive verse speaking I have heard in many a long year - on stage, on screen and on the box. Never have I been so keenly aware of the relentless brutality that underpins the whole play - even the humour has violent undertones, and there are sinister aspects to the amorous side too.

But the sheer passion and power of the sexuality and tenderness of the doomed couple came through and clenched the throat. Body language, too, was used both evocatively and provocatively throughout. The star-crossed titles roles were played with just the right amount of everything - including eroticism - as their personal yet public dramas unfolded Di Caprio and other 'big' names I have seen fade into mediocrity against delivery of this calibre.

Again, the music, movement and masquing contributed well to the overall pace of the piece, with the exception of the continuing and irritating keyboard 'muzak' which was totally superfluous during 'rant' and the wonderfully-staged fights. But the 'pianist' closed the first half with her wonderful rendition of "Come away, Death" which more than compensated.

Have you ever seen Juliet's Nurse smoking a pipe? An armed Friar Lawrence? A camp Tybalt? These were but three of the touches that made this an extraordinary production. And yet again the thoroughly competent and versatile cast included a young performer of exceptional talent.

19-yrear old Alec Fellows-Bennett (Mercutio and other minor roles) has the visual comic gifts of Harpo Marx (including the hair), diction to shame Noel Coward, and the movement and agility beyond the scope of many more mature actors. What he does with his tongue defies rational description, and opens up whole new worlds of - um, sorry. His vocal range demonstrates a complete understanding of the (often bawdy) text, and he is destined to go far. Dukies - and the Manchester companies if you see this - book this man now.

Copyright © Michael Nunn 2003

LINKS
• Chapterhouse Theatre Company

Other reviews from this Shakespeare in the Park season:
• Overall Comment
• The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Romeo and Juliet