The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare's Globe)
- Dan Sinclair
- Jul 10
- 5 min read
Review by Dan Sinclair
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Globe, or as I had to input into Citymapper when I realised I was at the wrong Globe - Shakespeare’s Globe has always been the home of Kings and Queens, but even they would not have the audacity of the man behind me who decided to take his shoes and socks off and put his bare feet on the bench beside me. The Merry Wives of Windsor, a bizarre, farcical romp that Shakespeare fired out of his quill at the demand of Queen Liz 1. A comedy of sex, lies, marriage and the French, it adds a third show to Shakespeare’s Globe Summer Season, and I hope good luck lies in odd numbers.
Directed by Associate Artistic Director Sean Holmes, it is one of Shakespeare’s simpler stories and notably, sillier. Our main story follows the arrival of Sir John Falstaff to Windsor, hot off the wars (some wars that Shakespeare wrote some History plays about that I do not care for, sorry Willy Shakes fans), he quickly sets about seducing two local wives, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Upon the realisation that they have both been sent the same letter, they set about their plans of revenge against Sir John, all whilst trying to evade the jealous eye of Mistress Ford’s husband, conveniently called Ford. But our B plot has a host of gentlemen bidding for the affection of one Anne Page, because there has to be a romance subplot. And lastly, the C plot has something to do with horses.
The Merry Wives of Windsor, whilst a comedy, is a Shakespearean comedy, so it has that rumble of discomfort running underneath, violent sexual politics, abuse, it’s all there. In his staging, Sean Holmes has done an excellent job of presenting a fresh take on this text. Instead of simply skipping around à la Benny Hill, we see that there is a genuine flicker of passion between Mistress Ford and Sir John, one that develops as we see her controlling husband spin further and further out of control. And in a final image, one wonderfully constructed by Holmes, we are left questioning how merry things will really be in Windsor after Sir John leaves.
This is believable thanks to George Fouracres’ lens on the infamous knight. With not a fat suit in sight (thank you, creative team), his Sir John is not the oafish slob you typically see, swilling around chicken drumsticks and mead. Instead, he is genuinely charismatic, prim, proper, and cuts a mean shape in a doublet and hose. But he is also arrogant, a moron, a horned devil, he is all of these things and yet Mistress Ford (Katherine Pearce) feels genuine affection for him. He's an escape, a problematic one, but an escape nonetheless. The comedy peaks and troughs throughout the play, more on that in a bit, but Fouracres’ plays it pretty spot on; he’s grounded and plays basically the entirety of the first half straight, so that when he lets loose in the second half, he earns every single laugh. His Falstaff is controlled and refreshingly thoughtful; Fouracres’ is a comedic treat.
The bulk of the comedic stylings in the rest of the play tended to suffer at the hands of Shakespeare himself. The roles of the Welsh flannel Hugh Evans (Samuel Creasey) and the French doctor with an outrageous accent, Doctor Caius (Adam Wadsworth) are hard work, often having to rely on the ministry of silly walks and voices, the Monty Python effect can become tiring quite quickly. This did creep over into some of the rest of the play, the default for injecting humour into the B and C plot scenes, and some that probably should’ve just been cut.
As the opposite of Katherine Pearce’s Mistress Ford, Emma Pallant as Mistress Page was another standout. One of the few roles in this mad comedy that is noticeably not that funny, she delivered a stellar performance. There was a real sense of danger behind her eyes, informing us of the very real threat that Ford (Jolyon Coy) presents. Scenes that are typically presented as two gossiping wives were given depth, stakes, and I found myself moved. Scenes where the whole cast came together were where it all started to sing, fast-paced, hilarious and full of little visual treats.
It is made clear that much of the distrust of Sir John comes from, well, not being from Windsor (apart from the cheating and the gambling and the sleeping around and the killing of deer). In his bright red get-up, he sticks out like a sore thumb from the pastel William Morris design of Grace Smart. Is it Elizabethan? Is it the 1900s? Modern day? Don’t know. Don’t particularly care, it’s The Globe, it looked fun! Fashionable, over-the-top, queer-coded and dramatic, Smart is in her stride. However, with the rest of Smart’s costume design also blending into this homogenous pastel blue, which creates the 'Windsor look', it did end up feeling a bit visually flat after a while, with injections of colour coming too infrequently for the pace of the rest of the play.
It always makes me feel icky, somewhat backhanded, why is this only ever a compliment when it’s this one playwright, but - the cast and Holmes put the story across beautifully. One of the Bard’s more accessible plays, it is clear to follow and also pretty funny, and not even in the I understand this Shakespearean contextual pun and you do not way, there’s slapstick, drag, genital jokes, it’s Susan Sontag Notes On Camp.
Composition from Frew, part of the brainchild behind After The Act, was charming, fairly Globe-esque, but never felt like it was given enough airtime to really get going. This is apart from some beautifully bombastic orchestrations behind the climax, where we are taken into the dark heart of Windsor Forest. With bells, flutes, thunder and some dead animal skulls, Holmes and Smart took us to the world of The Wickerman, an English folk horror homage. With glimmers of something epic, it never quite committed to the maypole and the terror of it all.
The Merry Wives of Windsor somehow marked my first trip to The Glo… Shakespeare’s Globe, and it’s undeniably a magical experience. One that would be even more magical if the Elizabethans had invested in lumbar support. Sean Holmes’ staging offers up a genuinely thought-provoking response to the Shakespearean comedy that is so frequently discarded as ‘just a very silly play’. Fouracres’ leads from the front in a spotty production that is, at the end of the day, a good bit of fun.
The Merry Wives of Windsor is playing at Shakespeare’s Globe until 20th September.
Photos by Marc Brenner