Shakespeare used a neat trick in The Merry Wives of Windsor: he took a well-loved character from a couple of his history plays, dumped him in more prosperous surroundings and waited to see what would happen. Falstaff (Richard Kettles) getting chucked in the Thames in a laundry basket happened. And lo, British farce was born.
Worthing’s own Rainbow Shakespeare, a company which mixes seasoned professional actors with amateur ones, have taken on the most rumpy pumpy of the Bard’s offerings this summer and done a sterling job with it, making a lovely outdoors evening’s entertainment for these long, sultry nights.
The plot is a bit silly and not one of Shakespeare’s best, but it does tend to make a change from the Much Ado’s and Dreams that abound in the hot weather, and it has just enough meat on its bones to make it a worthwhile project.
Attempting to woo two women at once – and two women who are friends for that matter – is never a good idea, but old letch Falstaff doesn’t really ‘do’ subtle and considered. He’s a man who leaps in at the deep end and invariably comes out smelling of fish.
Rainbow approach it in the spirit of Python, with Slender (Stuart Mortimer) being played like that soppy prince in the tower in Holy Grail, while Gallic doctor Caius (John Paul Elsmore) has an outrrrrageous French accent that would put the Taunters in the same film to shame. I did half expect him to burst out with “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries” but he restrained himself (but you could see it was a close run thing).
Then there’s Ford (Mark Lascelles), one of the gullible husbands who believes his pretty, witty wife is having it off with portly old Falstaff. He’s daffy enough when himself, in fetching bright green tights and wearing a floppy orange frisbee on his head while channelling a petulant Pam Ayres, but when he dons a comedy moustache and bright ginger wig to try to snare his missus and the old pig in the act, he becomes so happily absurd that you expect him to break into a silly walk any minute (it helps that he has the Cleese physique).
All this, plus a pace that goes at a right old lick, makes this Wives a jaunty, fun experience, with Falstaff himself being played by Kettles in the classic manner; big white beard, enormous belly and blustering, bluff delivery, while Rosalie Nickerson’s Mistress Quickly is very ‘ooooh matron’ and flapping hands.
The final Herne the Hunter scene is played out under an intense blue light and is the only time when the actors leave the stage (I wish they’d left it more in the body of the play as the staging is a touch static). The ‘fairies’ gather round a bush, giggling and tinkling, while the haystack Falstaff is duped once again by Shakespeare’s strong women.
So if you’re after your annual dollop of outdoor Bardery, I heartily recommend Rainbow Shakespeare’s lively take on the the Merry Wives. And, unlike a lot of outdoor performances, they don’t mind you taking a chair, so there’s none of this sitting on the floor nonsense which is murder for old bones. Comfort and comedy: now there’s an irresistible combination!
WHAT: The Merry Wives of Windsor
WHERE: Highdown Gardens, Worthing (follow the Littlehampton Road until you see the brown sign)
WHEN: Until July 28 at 7.30pm. Sat & Sun matinees at 2.30pm
TICKETS: £16 (half price for kids)
MORE INFO: http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/events-by-date/july/name,110636,en.asp
RUNNING TIME: About two hours
WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yes, preferably in a huge thunderstorm for contrast!
You must be logged in to post a comment.