The Merry Wives of Windsor, Guildford Shakespeare Company - ★★★★★ - Until July 27, 2019


A joyful evening of sparkling frolics in a lovely setting. Shakespeare's comedies, especially when outdoors, can be a minefield, but here we had a riot of truly funny business combined with excellent diction and some terrific characterisations. The play is about the triumph of women over doltish men but this was not hit home with a sledgehammer. We were allowed to work things out for ourselves. Although it would be churlish not to begin with mention of Peter Gordon's superbly jocund Falstaff, every cast member excelled in their roles. James Burton's Ford/Brook is up there with the best. Emma Fenney and Sarah Gobran as Mistresses Ford and Page ruled the roost in their Margo Leadbetter frocks. The other actors doubling vital roles were side splitting at times. The 1970s mise-en-scene by Caroline Devlin worked a treat with great music and dancing. The big fight was hilarious! A word of praise for the spot-on effects. Amusing attention to detail right down to Ford's lurid underpants. The use of the venue's unique facilities really worked. We won't spoil the final treat, but let's say you will be out of your seats at the curtain call. Well worth the journey for such smashing fun!

Reviewed by D.S.J.

 Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until July 27, 2019
Tue - Sat: 7:30 pm, Sat: 2:30 pm & Sun: 4 pm
Stoke Park Railway, Burchatts Farm Gate
Nearest station: London Road
https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/merrywives/
Map & Location: London Rd, Guildford GU1 1TU, UK

Latest Reviews

Slipped: Cinderella... Rebooted! - Royal Vauxhall Tavern - ★★★★ - Until January 8, 2020

Image
Seriously sick of 'Secret Santa'? This Xmas, why not get the office gang together and go to the RVT's wonderfully rude and sassy panto. This is not Cinderella as you might remember her. The unexpurgated version is a lot more fun and has better shoes! From Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to "Annie" and Adele there are more pop culture references here than in Kim Kardashian's tweets. The punch lines never stop coming and just when you've gotten one gag, you realise you've missed the next one. The song parodies are all clever with singing and choreography that are first-rate. The high-energy cast left us exhausted from laughing, and, of course, fromshoutingthe characters' catch phrases, plus warnings to our heroine. The audience is always kept involved and time flies at an amazing pace. Richard Watkins' Prince Charming was spectacularly over the top and really got things pumped up while Grant Cartwright as Cinderella was suitably coy ... not! Robe…
Full Details »

The Match Box, Omnibus Theatre - ★★★★ - Until November 17, 2019

Image
With “The Match Box” Frank McGuinness has created a terrific female role and Angela Marray as Sal gives a sensational performance. During two hours alone on stage she offers us a psychological study of a tragic life following the shooting of her twelve-year-old daughter. Sal's lack of acceptance of the death is alarmingly displayed in a very well staged and lit scene in the mortuary. Her subsequent heartbreaking appeal on TV goes against all the advice she has been given and the consequences are dreadful to discover. Seamlessly changing to other characters in Sal's life Angela Marray is mesmerising. McGuinness' language throughout is eloquent yet realistic; he gives us insights into Sal's tortured mind and the character becomes ghostly and terrifying in her self-belief. Throughout there is interesting use of matches to demonstrate the ethereal nature of life. In fact the entire production by James O'Donnell is well judged and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Smal…
Full Details »

Stop Kiss, Above The Stag Theatre - ★★★★ - Until November 30, 2019

Image
Callie reports on the traffic from a helicopter. She is separated from the world below and from herself until she is forced to confront life and her assumptions by Sara. In contrast, the latter has taken control of her life by moving to New York City and becoming deeply engaged as a teacher of under-privileged children. Diana Son gives us a very well written and thoroughly engaging work. From the initial meeting of the two women through their developing attraction the relationship is touchingly and humorously presented. The choice of narrative technique creates a tension and a sense of foreboding that would have been lost in a more linear telling of this love story. It ensures that the audience's attention is riveted even as we know what inevitably will happen. While there is a serious political point being made here, Son wisely lets the audience draw it out, concentrating on creating plausible characters while avoiding a polemic. Suzanne Boreel as Callie gets it just right with …
Full Details »

Afterglow, Waterloo East Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until December 6, 2019

Image
Afterglow is back because audiences loved it! It is a fascinating look at contemporary relationships and three people's capacity to deal with sexuality, infatuation and love. Can we really keep these emotional states in separate compartments or are they bound to bleed into one another resulting in pain and confusion? Is it a form of hubris to think we can control what the heart wants? This is the struggle faced by Josh, Alex and Darius as they try to negotiate the complexities of an open relationship. The cast members here are all equally strong and nuanced. Peter McPherson is excellent as the scientific, right-brain Alex who thinks he can control his jealousy and Adi Chugh is just as good as his impulsive, needy artistic partner, Josh. Benjamin Aluwihare completely captures the naïveté and vulnerability of the younger participant, Darius. Steven Kunis successfully builds on the original direction of Tom O'Brien and the piece is lively and well-paced. Libby Todd's set is b…
Full Details »

Sinatra: Raw, Wilton's Music Hall - ★★★★★ - Until November 2, 2019

Image
Richard Shelton is probably the best British Sinatra performer on stage today. Old Blue Eyes was a brilliant interpreter of tunes and lyrics, and Richard Shelton brings all that, plus possibly even better vocal tone. We are very convincingly taken back to the Purple Room in Palm Springs, 1971, and treated to a host of songs in addition to insights into some elements of Sinatra's private life, especially his relationship with Ava Gardner. Shelton also delves into some of the spicier moments in the middle years and there are even a couple of surprises – for example his detestation of fellow Rat Pack member, Peter Lawford. Sinatra's campaigning for Kennedy and civil rights are also touched on. This is all presented with great panache and the phrasing, intonation and mannerisms are perfect. With just a pianist and a bottle of Jack Daniel's for company, Shelton treats us to a glorious meander through the Frank Sinatra Songbook of which he seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge…
Full Details »

All's Well That Ends Well, Jermyn Street Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until November 30, 2019

Image
All's Well That Ends Well is often labelled a problem comedy, and it certainly offers a problem for contemporary audiences and sensibilities. It tells the story of the unrequited love of the virtuous Helena for the rather shallow Bertram and really makes us question why she abases herself to pursue this unworthy object of her affections. Tom Littler tries to address this issue in a wonderfully economical production using just six actors. He does so by focussing on Helena's reaction to the trauma of her father's death and frames the story with her memories. She acts in response to her loss and to her need to belong. Hannah Morrish excels as the lovestruck Helena, and Gavin Fowler is equally strong as the callow Bertram. Robert Mountford is delightful as Bertram's friend of bad influence whose exposure as a coward makes the protagonist reconsider his behaviour. Miranda Foster is simply outstanding in her multiple roles as The Countess, Queen and Widow. She creates clear …
Full Details »

A Life Twice Given, Upstairs at the Gatehouse - ★★★★★ - Until October 6, 2019

Image
Absolutely superb performances make this disturbing play quite outstanding. In these incredibly uncertain days the prospect of cloning humans is far too close for comfort, but here, in Gail Louw's adaptation of David Daniel's book, it is sensitively used to tragic effect. If less well performed and directed (by John Burrows) it could be mawkish. Indeed, the performances leapt off the stage.As the tragic father Johnny Neal really took flight; it is a complex character with lots of words and contrasting emotions. Johnny was stunningly good. He is matched all along the way by Natalia Campbell's mother who gets compelled into situations she is extremely unhappy with. Both actors conveyed the passing years most convincingly. Twenty-year-old Damian Reyes-Fox played the son from childhood to student doctor. In his big scene at the end he really performed brilliantly. The audience was held totally rapt throughout; this is a tribute to the faultless delivery and tremendous rapport …
Full Details »

Orphée, London Coliseum - ★★★★★ - Until November 29, 2019

Image
Once again ENO has taken on a very difficult piece, but here the nettle is firmly grasped and a mesmeric piece of music theatre results. Netia Jones' outstanding new staging of Philip Glass' 1993 opera, which is itself closely based on Jean Cocteau's 1950 film, asks us to ponder whether life is a dream and questions whether art seduces one away from real human concerns. Conductor Geoffrey Paterson gives us every nuance of the subtly expressive vocal and instrumental writing which includes musical echoes of Nadia Boulanger and Darius Milhaud. Lizzie Clachan's expressionistic sets retain a dream-like quality in Act One with everything sliding slowly across the stage. When we go to the Underworld in Act Two moving walls are covered with drifting projections of catacombs. The singing is excellent throughout with a big cast led by Nicholas Lester as Orphée and Sarah Tynan as Eurydice. However, the voices that particularly stood out for us were those of Jennifer France and N…
Full Details »

Soho Cinders, Charing Cross Theatre - ★★★★ - Until December 21, 2019

Image
It's all here but the pumpkin coach! This wonderfully updated telling of Cinderella's story takes place around Old Compton Street where Cinderella has become Robbieand Prince Charming is now a closeted politician. The fairy godmother played by Christopher Coleman expects a little more than appreciation and the two wicked stepsisters are now pole dancers threatening to take away Robbie's launderette. Does it sound like a lot of silly fun? Well, it is. It is also a slightly darker commentary on current political spinand image doctoring and on the tabloid culture that creates both political fairy tales and faux scandals. All of the cast are excellent. As the two totally over the top wicked stepsisters,Michaela Stern and Natalie Harman are hilarious in numbers such as "I'm So Over Men" and "Fifteen Minutes."Ewan Gillies as the evil spin doctor is quite perfect and "The Tail That Wags The Dog"sums up what so many of us see on the current politi…
Full Details »

The Mask of Orpheus, The Coliseum - ★★★★★ - Until November 13, 2019

Image
If you are looking for a linear plot and long melodic lines, this is probably not your cup of nectar. This gigantic opera by Harrison Birtwistle uses the Orpheus myth as its basis, but his score and libretto give director, Daniel Kramer, the scope to let his sense of invention run free. This is a wildly imaginative, multi-layered look at the story and musically it ranges from coloratura to squeaks and grunts. There are also interludes of electronic music to punctuate the story accompanied by mimed action and gaudy parade. Indeed, the ENO production is quite dazzling with projections, challenging choreography and even aerial artists. Daniel Lismore's costumes were wonderfully unbelievable and outlandish, with incredible frocks frequently spattered with crystal encrustations. All of the performances are brilliantly sung, but Peter Hoare stands out in the phenomenally difficult role as Orpheus the Man, and his singing is simply sensational. Kudos also to Martyn Brabbins who musically…
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine. Reviews and Ratings.