Reader Reviews
The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | After Thea Sharrock's sublimely hilarious As You Like It last year, I was shocked at how poor this was. To evoke Basil Fawlty is to provoke comparison, and here the inadequacy on display was toe-curling. The play was flung at the audience, whereas last year's comedy drew us in and touched our hearts even as it attacked our collective funny bone. This unsubtle mess is wretched stuff by comparison and its manic atmosphere smacks of desperation. A second star only because I quite enjoyed the finale. - Job | 23 Sep 10 |
| I totally agree with David Baxter. It's the perfect play for the Globe (in the same way that A Midsummer Night's dream is the perfect play for the Open Air Theatre). Christopher Luscombe's production extracts every laugh possible - and more. Christopher Benjamin is a wonderful Falstaff and Serena Evans and Sarah Woodward a great double-act. Delightful and uplifting. - Gareth James | 18 Sep 08 |
| At last, The Globe makes sense. A sparkling production of one of Shakespeare's broadest and bawdiest comedies, sensibly cut to two and a half hours and played to a packed and appreciative audience. The school parties particularly enjoyed the allusive characterisations: Basil Fawlty as Ford, Inspector Clousseau as Caius and Slender more Graham Norton than Colin Firth. Christopher Benjamin is a garrulous Falstaff, fully aware of the disadvantages of his bulk but determined to pursue the Merry Wives regardless. Serena Evans and Sarah Woodward are exceptional as Mistresses Page and Ford and there is not a single weak performance in Christopher Luscombe's splendid production, the best I have seen at The Globe. - David Baxter | 10 Sep 08 |
| Took my sister and her (not Shakespeare-loving) friend to this and we all had a tremendous night out. Great Falstaff and some real comic turns made this the sort of production that leaves you on a high. - addicted to theatre | 26 Aug 08 |
| This is clearly the best the Globe has produced in a long while. It is fantastically funny and makes Shakespeare much more accessible for those who have memories of bad english lecturers who have no idea (like below). I find it interesting Ian Nase comments on two of the best performances as the worst... perhaps he is jealous! ha! Anyway i thoroughly enjoyed this production. Go and see it now... thats if you can get a ticket! - John Kraen | 02 Aug 08 |
| Not sure why someone has left two comments with different ratings. Or why anyone would bother to leave such a bald two word statement as John Beach does. But in any event, the good news is that this production is every bit as good and as funny as the near-universal press raves say it is. It is the first time at the Globe that I have felt truly as though this is the only possible venue for this only possible production of this play. The design is stunning. Luscombe has assembled a crack team, and the quality of the comic acting is exceptionally high. Unusally for this venue or any other large-scale Shakespeare production, the team bats all the way down. And the show contains a jewel of a performance from Andy Havill as Ford, plus a clever and potentially career-making turn from Will Belchambers as Slender. Not to mention the heroic Sarah Woodward in yet another Globe triumph. This show will sell out, even in the Yard. So book early. - Will Simonsen | 21 Jun 08 |
| Unbelievably bad - John Beach | 20 Jun 08 |
| I was not impressed. What an insult! I expect more from the globe - this was obvious, and over the top. I thought a lot of the performances were weak - particularly slender and Mr Ford...they just seemed to be trying too hard to add characterisation that Shakespare doesn't need. As an english literature lecturer i found the language was spoken far too pronounced. I do not go to the globe expecting bad pantomime! It just seemed like a very adequate production. Steer well clear. - Ian Nase | 20 Jun 08 |
| I was not impressed. What an insult! I expect more from the globe - this was obvious, and over the top. I thought a lot of the performances were weak - particularly slender and Mr Ford...they just seemed to be trying too hard to add characterisation that Shakespare doesn't need. As an english literature lecturer i found the language was spoken far too pronounced. I do not go to the globe expecting bad pantomime! It just seemed like a very adequate production. Steer well clear. - Ian Nase | 20 Jun 08 |
