Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare’s hilarious comedy of suburbia, wives and over-inflated egos.

John Falstaff plans to hustle his way to a comfortable retirement by seducing the wives of two wealthy men. Unknown to him, it’s the women of Windsor who really pull the strings, orchestrating Falstaff’s comeuppance amidst a theatrical smorgasbord of petty rivalries, jealousies and overinflated egos. For a fat Englishman, a Welshman and a Frenchman, the only way is Windsor...

Reviews

"The play has never felt so strongly feminist… The production is ablaze with energy and throngs with strong, quirky performances…" (The Independent ★★★★)

"The play bursts with slap(stick) and tickle, prats and pratfalls and lots of laughs — there is not a weak link in the cast." (The Times ★★★★)

"Troughton embraces the buffoon role with gusto, lumbering around the stage in public school Humpty Dumpty mode with a triangular rubber codpiece flapping in the breeze. But despite his good humour as an actor, the centrepiece performers are – rightly, given the trajectory of Shakespeare’s plot – the double act of Lacey and Cordingly.… It’s consciously very silly and in parts it succeeds at being funny…" (The Stage)

Extra features

Interviews with Beth Cordingly, Rebecca Lacey and David Troughton; Props at the RSC; Director’s Commentary; Cast Gallery