Reader Reviews
Merry Wives - The Musical (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | Good fun but nothing brilliant. Well cast, entertaining sets, costumes and above average music. However, the plot of the first half is too complicated for a light hearted musical and there are simply too many characters. That said, the second half is much tighter. Decent seasonal fun but the history cycle next door is of a much better quality. - 81.151.177.65) | 21 Jan 07 |
| I can't really fathom why many critics have been sniffy about this. It's the RSC letting its hair down in panto season with superior seasonal fare. It works as a musical just as it works as a play or an opera. The production is cast to the nines, sits on a great set and has some wonderful comic moments and some good songs well sung. It's a lot of fun and you shouldn't be put off, though the run is probably sold out anyway! - 86.144.100.101) | 21 Jan 07 |
| A bit of a curate's egg. It has charm and it works to a degree but it doesn't really hit all the right notes as it were. Having said that Judi Dench was clearly suffering with her voice on the night I saw it, so that didn't help although she of course performed with great character and profesionalism. It's fun in the main, fluffy at times and arguably true to the play's roots as a piece of light entertainment. Callow is a fine Falstaff although his singing is not great. In fact, only Strallen and Crewes really sing beautifully, while the others are clearly "actors who are singing" rather than "musical actors". Musicals seem to bring out the extremes in people's ratings - for me, it's neither brilliant nore completely duff. It's a nice night out and it's a pleasant addition to the Complete Works. And few Doran productions can really be considered to have no merits. It's worth a look. - 82.13.39.137) | 15 Jan 07 |
| Fantastic! I went thinking perhaps they wouldn't pull it off - but Oh Boy! they did. It is a terrific romp which does not detract from the bards original. The songs are witty and tunefull and help to move the narrative forward and are not just musical interludes as could have happened. This show really deserves a transfer - it would be a tragedy if it does not. Well done to the RSC for taking this imaginative and superbly performed production to the stage. - 172.143.22.158) | 13 Jan 07 |
| Fantastic fun. It may be a bit like a pantomime but what's wrong with that as it is a Christmas show after all. Judi Dench, Simon Callow etc. all seemed to be having a good time as did the audience. See it while you can. - 193.23.116.11) | 08 Jan 07 |
| Dire sub-pantomine drivel which wastes what should have been a great cast. The jokes are forced and there is some quite horrible racial stereotyping. Over long as well. I cannot remember enjoying a night at the theatre so little. - 80.1.224.8) | 07 Jan 07 |
| A real dog's breakfast of a show which somehow manages to be very entertaining in places. Simon Callow & Judi Dench are great, as are the majority of the cast who really put their heart and soul into it. But the songs are unmemorable and one wishes it could have been left as a straight play. Having said that, the most excruciating scene is the farcical duel section, which failed to raise a single titter. And the nadir of the entire experience was the presence of the nauseatingly saccharine Scarlett Strallen as Anne. I've seen her in "Mamma Mia", "Chitty" and now this. The Langford genes run strong in her and her OTT, utterly twee and panto-style performance never fails to set this particular audience member's teeth on edge! A worthwhile evening out purely for the calibre of the (majority of the) cast - just don't expect too much! - 82.31.38.80) | 05 Jan 07 |
| This would have been a good production if they hadn't set it to music or maybe just put in the occasional song with Shakespeare's original dialogue. Paul Englishby's songs in the first act were pretty dire - the second act songs were better if you stuck with it but as performers like Simon Callow and Judi Dench are wonderful actors but abysmal singers why detract from their performances by making them sing? Callow and Dench were great when speaking and not singing. The true musical theatre performers - Scarlett Strallen as Anne and Martin Crewes as her suitor - were wasted in small roles with only one song each. Alexandra Gibreath and Hadyn Gwynne sang well and had an excellent sisterly rapport as the wives while Alistair McGowan was an energetic Ford who, while not being the greatest singer, is able to put over a tune without embarrassing himself. However, in my opinion the real stars of the show were two of the supporting players - Brendan O Hea as Pistol and Simon Trinder as Slender. They made the most of small parts that often go unnoticed in this play and were always watchable. On the whole an enjoyable evening. Go and see this with an open mind but don't expect musical fireworks! - 62.253.80.222) | 03 Jan 07 |
| Deliriously entertaining. Wonderful performances and some sweet songs. A really enjoyable show, funny and well worth seeing! - 86.146.13.43) | 29 Dec 06 |
| Highly enjoyable, clever, witty, funny... all you need for a great evening out. The music is great, the actors marvellous, particularly Judi Dench (though that was to be expected), the set is simply beautiful. Emotions run high, whether you laugh with Mistresses Page and Ford, weep with Mistress Quickly or rage with Mr Ford. Worth watching!!! - 84.154.121.228) | 20 Dec 06 |
| I went to this having read the reviews a little worried at what i would be seeing, but the show was brilliant. I didnt really care too much that the singing wasnt always great, i found it funny and i was having a good time - dont read what the critics say just go see it for yourself - 84.12.253.178) | 18 Dec 06 |
| The problem with this Merry Wives is that it is too unrelentingly hearty - a kind of theatrical Hi-de-hi ('thou shalt find this funny', when in fact it is not all that funny) - and the original Shakespeare is better. Merry Wives is one of Shakespeare's most under-rated plays, his only excursion into the world of the middle classes with their foibles, habits and assumptions. The relationships between the wives and the disgraced old aristocracy add to the underlying tension, all of which goes for nothing in this broad brush approach, everything overplayed too much. It is a great pity that the original Shakespeare was not played, especially in the detailed and imaginative sets (thank goodness we were spared a white box for once) But the problem is the score. The music is quite unmemorable and irrelevant. When Vaughan Williams composed his Falstaff opera 'Sir John in Love', wonderfully revived this year by the ENO, he said with caution that he was aware he was competing with three great men, Nicolai, Verdi and Holst (all of whom -among others - had composed Falstaff operas). No such caution here, more's the pity. The show makes a colourful evening in a light undemanding way, but is strangely unsatisfying when recollected in tranquillity. The sad truth is that the Complete Works season has been a curate's egg. There have been some outstanding successes - King John in the Swan my No 1 - but the season began with appalling main house productions of Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, and ends with this damp squib of a Christmas show. - 88.107.33.102) | 16 Dec 06 |
| BRILLANT and CLEVER!!! The entire cast is wonderful and makes for a fun evening.Outstanding are Simon Callow and Dame Judi Dench. The music adds to the enjoyment and makes this a worthwhile venture to Stratford. GO!!! - 64.12.116.202) | 16 Dec 06 |
| A wonderfully entertaining evening with a superb cast. Simon Trinder (Slender) and Paul Chahidi (Dr Caius) were particularly good as of course were Judi Dench and Simon Callow. I would advise people to ignore most of the ‘professional’ reviews in the national newspapers and go and enjoy this production with an open mind. - 193.23.116.11) | 15 Dec 06 |
| 3rd preview: I think this WILL be an enjoyable romp. Needs a lot of tightening at the moment but it is full of joyous things! Haydyn Gwynne,Alexandra Gilbreath lead the company in a delightful 'Merry Wives'-one of the better numbers with an acrobatic Judi Dench! (well nearly!)Martin Crewes delights with 'Oh Anne' but some of the other voices could do with being in tune and in tempo. But perhaps this will improve in time. Simon Callow acts Falstaff superbly but his singing needs attention!Simon Trinder is a very funny Slender and Paul Chahidi an outrageous Dr Caius. Stylish to look at it makes for an enjoyable Christmas romp. - 81.86.106.82) | 06 Dec 06 |
