Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: David Troughton, Rebecca Lacey, Paul Dodds, Karen Fishwick, Beth Cordingly, Vince Leigh, David Acton, Jonathan Cullen, Ishia Bennison, Stevie Basaula, Luke Newberry, Sakuntala Ramanee, Nima Taleghani, Charlotte Josephine, Afolabi Alli, Josh Finan, Katy Brittain, Tim Samuels, Tom Padley, John Macaulay.
One may play with time and words and not always get them right, not every sentence uttered in this world of ours can be set down with accuracy, not every speech is heralded and praised for its rhythm and beating heart cadence. Yet, in the act of unsolicited wooing, the words never truly fit the mouth and the insincere clumsiness of the potential, unwelcome, suitor is but the action of one only thinking of one thing.
One may play with words but they can be improved upon with true adoration of the beholder, and for modern ears, a play such as The Merry Wives of Windsor is ripe for exploration, the beat giving a new lease, and all of sudden, what may have been at first thought of rushed and lacking in depth, becomes a true and majestic piece of theatre.
In a season where there are so many exciting newcomers to the R.S.C. stage, perhaps rightly it falls to the women of the piece in which the spotlight fell with passion, fun and sensational respect. Not only to the ever enjoyable Rebecca Lacey as the sharp and cunning Mistress Page, an actor who truly fills the stage with absolute maturity in her delivery and the beautiful sparkle of anarchy in her heart but also to the enjoyable performances by Charlotte Josephine as Bardolph and the impressive Karen Fishwick as Anna Page.
Ms. Fishwick has already been celebrated and praised for her role of Kay in the superb Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, which has been hailed as one of the great theatre productions of the last decade but in The Merry Wives of Windsor, she takes a huge step forward, already accomplished on the stage, the sense of heartfelt anarchy she imbibes, and opposite the aforementioned Ms. Lacey, is astonishing, a smile decimating the proceedings with such earnestness, and yet with beautiful and directed energy, absolute trust in the Director’s vision.
It is though arguably to David Troughton to whom the night belongs, the women of this marvellous production having always the upper hand, but as Sir John Falstaff, the foil for every punchline, he was not just commanding, but as imperious as he always conveyed when performing at the R.S.C. In much the same manner as his son Sam can hold an audience’s attention with a single look, it is the comic timing and believable everyman quality that he should be held in such high esteem.
A beguiling, rip-roaring comedy, enhanced immensely by Spymonkey’s Toby Park and his influence in the art of physical comedy, one that gets possibly overlooked too often when the conversation comes round to the works of William Shakespeare, mainly due to the feeling of either hurried pressure in the writing, or of perhaps inverted snobbery due to the lack of presence of any chivalric code or identifiable real life hero, The Merry Wives of Windsor is a joyous triumph, a piece of the grandest of writing, adaption for the age and observation.
Ian D. Hall