The Merry Wives Of Windsor Review (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, AD - PR Invite)

18 June 2024 I 19:15 I Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon I AD - PR Invite

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Merry Wives Of Windsor, in its 2024 revival at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, is nothing short of a theatrical triumph, the ultimate summer sizzler that is guaranteed to leave you with split sides! Indulgent in both textual and subtextual physical humour, there is nothing subtle about Blanche McIntyre's uproarious direction. In a contemporary fashion, even featuring snippets of popular culture's Spice Girls and Neil Diamond, audiences are treated to a refreshed adaptation of the Shakespearian tale. The story becomes accessible, regardless of your understanding of the play, not bound by a direct time period.

I wish to open this review by extending my thanks to the RSC's press team for inviting me along tonight. Right in the heart of Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, this is a dream come true in the journey of Jackstage, writing for such a prestigious company and a playwright that I have adored so much. Endlessly grateful for this opportunity, I would encourage even the skeptical to visit this beautiful theatre with top level hospitality. Nobody else commands Shakespeare quite as masterfully!

Men meet their comeuppance, influenced by McIntyre's feminist approach, where the Wives truly dominate in their merry mischief! Starring respectively as Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, Samantha Spiro and Siubhan Harrison ooze charisma and scandal with their characterisations. A casting truly made to be, Spiro and Harrison are ultimate scene stealers, succeeding in making my face ache and tear up with laughter! Instantly glued to their melodramatic approach, women in their uproarious revenge are celebrated in ousting Falstaff's downfall.

As the victim of such misfortune, John Hodgkinson plays boisterous, bumbling and pretentious qualities with remarkable confidence. Beaten black and blue by final scenes, his misogynist behaviours are diminished to appear foolish in a reclamation of Windsor's residents. From the second Hodgkinson enters, we are hooked, leading with his waist in overbearing greed. But not all male roles receive such adversity, with Jason Thorpe's Caius a comedic highlight, amplified with a thick French accent to orchestrate humour with pronunciation. Every intonation is purposeful, his overwhelming compassion compelling in satirical nature.

A lesser known of Shakespeare's writing, this production holds so many surprises. By the interval alone, we couldn't stop trying to list all of the hilarious moments! Transitions are mesmerising, isolating characters in their missions to cause terror, from rapier wielding dentists to accordion playing Germans, we see 'behind the scenes' of their lives, what Shakespeare doesn't give to us.

Robert Innes Hopkins' set design is admirable in creating thousands of original and inviting stage images, blink and you'll miss it as an equivalent to the mayhem of the text. A luminous green grass reeks of wealth, though shattered stage lights and dismantled living rooms threaten to disrupt the perfection. Paired with Philip D'Orléans' fight direction, conflict is tremendously compact in a limited thrust staging, nonetheless enhancing the style of slapstick where physical emphasis helps to further unlock the language used.

There are a tremendous amount of performers and creatives alike I could commend in this outstanding adaptation, with riotous character work to a stunning live band to audibly narrate the mischief. Unpredictable and scandalous, I have utterly fallen in love with The Merry Wives Of Windsor. This may be my first trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon's beautiful theatre scene, and will certainly not be the last!