Themes of love misdirection and deception
Some things are ever present in a London Summer, packed tubes of commuters, pubs spilling out onto the streets and a busy mix of tourists and locals waiting to get into The Globe Theatre to cap off their day’s entertainment with some Shakespeare, writes Christopher Peacock.
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a rarity in the works of Shakespeare as it is one set wholly in England and as a comedy it is truly unique in that nature. The themes of love misdirection and deception are to be found here as in many other Shakespeare comedies, and the Merry Wives of Windsor focuses around Sir John Falstaff (previously seen in Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2), who is attempting to woo two wive – Mistress Ford and Mistress Page – and extract from them their husband’s riches to keep him in his lavish lifestyle. The two women wise up to this and look to torment Falstaff along the way. The secondary love line is that of Mistress Page’s daughter Anne trying to find a suitor, and those that have been chosen for her falling short of what she longs for.
Sean Holmes’ production keeps things simple, matched with Grace Smart’s stage design and the Jacquie Davies costumes; the art nouveau colour palette matched on to traditional costume certainly helped with clarity and did not distract. This helps pave the way for some strong comedic performances. Most notably George Fouracres as Falstaff, whose delivery and characterisation brought plenty of laughs and even some depth in what is quite a bombastic role. Emma Pallant as Mistress Page and Katherine Pearce as Mistress Ford were both at their joyous best when plotting together.
The innuendo gets laughs and is leaned into in this production at every given opportunity.
However, much of the comedy found in the script would probably face more scrutiny if it were written today. Jokes about the appearance of Falstaff and his weight and the stereotyping of the Welsh and French would not go down as well without trying to make a grander point. That being said, the audience do laugh at those same points that were probably bringing the house down over 400 years ago.
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