THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
Victory Cafe
Rating: NNNN
See show info here
Fringe veteran troupe Shakespeare BASH’d returns to the festival with The Merry Wives Of Windsor, in which the large, self-impressed rascal Sir John Falstaff woos a pair of married women (Suzette McCanny and Julia Nish-Lapidus) and becomes the victim of several comic misadventures.
Standing large at the centre of this production, directed by James Wallis and Catherine Rainville, is Sean Sullivan’s Falstaff, a rogue who charms as he works his way toward his desires.
The company understands how to make Shakespeare’s language clear, and there’s fine work by Lynne Griffin as bawdy Mistress Quickly, herself caught up in several machinations, Jeff Dingle as a shy suitor, David Mackett as a Welsh priest and Andrew Joseph Richardson as the jealous Ford, fearful of being cuckolded.
The subplot sometimes muddies the fun of the main story, but there are lots of laughs in this warm-hearted production, presented in a bar so you can drink during the show.
