Review: Merry Wives of Windsor, The Hope Theatre

In Shakespeare’s riotous comedy of deception and desire, the innuendo is inescapable and the chaos comes thick and fast. This production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Hope Theatre takes that premise and pushes it to its extreme.

Told through an unmistakably working-class lens, any lingering notion of a polite “middle-class comedy” is firmly dismantled. In its place comes a parade of tracksuits and football shirts, joyfully relocating the action to a recognisable early-2000s Britain. John Falstaff (James Tanner), introduced half-asleep among the audience before reviving himself with a can of beer, sets about attempting to seduce two of the estate’s most prominent women. Mrs Page (Bronwyn Stella Davies) and Mrs Ford (Tash Tomlinson), however, are far ahead of him, conspiring to humiliate him through a series of increasingly elaborate deceptions — while also teasing their suspicious husbands. For all its contemporary trappings, the production remains, at heart, fundamentally faithful to Shakespeare’s source material.

It is the playful ad-libs, interstitial creativity and audience interaction, though, that elevate it from just another ordinary retelling. Director Grace Darvill has clearly created a space for her actors to play. The evening begins with deliberately dreadful karaoke and a pub scuffle. Falstaff burps — a lot. The wives snack on pickles straight from the jar. Audience members are handed wedding veils and yoghurts. The effect is immersive without being forced, creating a tangible sense of communal mischief, as though the audience has stumbled into a living, breathing estate gathering.

The production’s greatest strength lies in its ensemble. It quickly becomes clear that this is a company who relish performing together. The eleven actors remain visible throughout, lining the edges of the space and even sitting among the audience, laughing along with one another’s scenes. Tanner’s Falstaff is gloriously self-assured and foolish in equal measure, much of his gut permanently exposed beneath a rucked-up Argentina shirt. But crucially, he earns the audience’s respect — something he comes to rely on in the second half when openly admitting to “saying the wrong line”. Davies and Tomlinson make a formidable comic pairing, united in their merciless ridicule, while Django Bevan’s Mr Ford balances insecurity and absurdity to excellent effect.

Darvill’s Britpop concept is sustained through the scene changes, masked by energetic renditions of early-2000s hits and even choreography that maintains momentum. The look of the entire production is slick and clever. Mr Ford’s attempt at disguise as Master Brook consists simply of swapping his Brentford home shirt for the away version, while Erin Chen differentiates Slender and Dr Caius with nothing more than a bald cap and a beret. The lighting design embraces bold colour, with the final “faeries” scene playing out as a nightclub trip.

If the evening falters, it does so in the final stretch. The text’s “Herne the Hunter” subplot — Falstaff disguised in folkloric antlers, tormented by candle-bearing “fairies” — is one of Shakespeare’s more eccentric conceits, and its translation to a noughties estate setting proves awkward. The energy dips slightly as the concept strains against the demands of the text.

Yet the overriding impression is one of joyful disorder. From Falstaff’s trousers repeatedly falling down (hard to know whether this is intentional or not), to forgotten lines, props, and mischievous ad-libs, there’s no doubt that this Merry Wives is fun to watch. The lecherous interpretations of Shakespeare’s original text hover around every corner of this production for those dirty-minded enough to see them; it just so happens that everybody in the audience is wilfully looking out for them.

You can read more about this show in our recent interview with Grace Darvill here.

Directed and Produced by Grave Darvill
Stage Manager & Videography by Theo Darvill
Sound & Lighting by Lenny

Merry Wives of Windsor runs at the Hope Theatre until Saturday 21 February before transferring to The Pen Theatre (25 February and 5/6 March)