Northern Broadsides join forces with the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, to stage William Shakespeare’s superb medley of comedy and farce The Merry Wives. Directed and featuring Northern Broadsides Artistic Director Barrie Rutter O.B.E. in the role of Sir John Falstaff, the new production will visit Liverpool Playhouse between Tuesday 24th May and Saturday 28th May.
It’s the 1920s in North of England and Sir John Falstaff is past-his-prime and skint. Vain rogue that he is he attempts, rather clumsily, to seduce a couple of well-to-do wives… but Mistress Page and Mistress Ford get wise to his plan and scheme to exact revenge with hilarious and unimaginable consequences.
Relocated to a posh Yorkshire country club, this Merry Wives boasts a distinctively sporting theme – where the ‘anyone for tennis’ and ‘jolly hockey sticks’ toffs prance around pretentiously whilst the wily ladies-who-lunch exact a spirited revenge on the lascivious and not-upwardly-mobile Falstaff.
“Why, then the world’s mine oyster. Which I with sword will open.” – Pistol, The Merry Wives.
Northern Broadsides have previously staged The Merry Wives in 1993 and 2001. Playing Sir John Falstaff for the third time will be Northern Broadsides’ Artistic Director Barrie Rutter O.B.E. Mr. Rutter’s recent works include the title roles in Jonathan Miller’s productions of King Lear and Rutherford & Son, as well directing and featuring in award-winning production An August Bank Holiday Lark, all of which visited Liverpool between 2013 and 2015. Punchy and down-to-earth, with vowels as flat as a flounder and whippet-quick comic delivery, The Merry Wives is performed by a large and spirited cast of sixteen actors.
Northern Broadsides is a unique theatre company with a true northern voice. Its work is characterised by a high degree of theatrical inventiveness and robust performances from a large ensemble cast of multi-talented and charismatic northern actors who all perform in their natural voices. For the past 23 years, it has delighted audiences here and abroad with a growing classic repertoire that has won the company many awards and a loyal following worldwide.
Cast: Adam Barlow, Al Bollands, Ben Burman, Andy Cryer, Sarah Eve, John Gully, Becky Hindley, Gerard McDermott, Josh Moran, Roy North, Barrie Rutter, Nicola Sanderson, Helen Sheals, Mark Stratton, Jos Vantyler, Andrew Vincent.
Tickets for The Merry Wives are priced at £10 to £28. Tickets can be purchased from the Playhouse Theatre Box office, by telephone on 0151 7094776 or online at www.everymanplayhouse.com.
*A single transaction fee of £2 applies to all phone, counter and internet bookings. Cash payments are exempt from any transaction fees.