"Even the most hardcore Bardolator" would concede that "The Merry Wives of Windsor" is not one of Shakespeare's better works, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. It's a daft, flawed, and "canonically illogical" spin-off from the Henry IV plays that gives the beloved character of Sir John Falstaff a brand new comic adventure – wooing the wealthy wives of Windsor in the hope of making some money.
The play lacks the "pathos and grit of his original appearances", and sidesteps the fact that Falstaff died 200 years before the manifestly "present-day" action. Rather than try and "fix" any of this, Sean Holmes' entertaining new staging leans strongly into the daftness, with a "relentless barrage of absurdist line deliveries and outlandish character interpretations". It's "pathologically silly", but so long as you're not expecting too much, "you'll have fun".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It makes for a "jolly" evening, said Clive Davis in The Times. I found myself wishing I was in the pit with the "groundlings", to soak up the atmosphere.
It's all "entertainingly" done, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. But overall, this theatrical cake fails to rise. Fouracres is a far younger and more sprightly Falstaff than the "plus-sized buffoon" that the plot and jokes require.
And he "doesn't fully dominate proceedings as you'd hope; the supporting cast often garner the belly-laughs". This is an enjoyable show that's "suitable for tourists", but it "falls short of being a summer sensation for all".
Globe Theatre, London SE1. Until 20 September
-
The world’s most romantic hotelsThe Week Recommends Treetop hideaways, secluded villas and a woodland cabin – perfect settings for Valentine’s Day
-
Democrats push for ICE accountabilityFeature U.S. citizens shot and violently detained by immigration agents testify at Capitol Hill hearing
-
The price of sporting gloryFeature The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off this week. Will Italy regret playing host?
-
6 gorgeous homes in warm climesFeature Featuring a Spanish Revival in Tucson and Richard Neutra-designed modernist home in Los Angeles
-
Touring the vineyards of southern BoliviaThe Week Recommends Strongly reminiscent of Andalusia, these vineyards cut deep into the country’s southwest
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
American Psycho: a ‘hypnotic’ adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis classicThe Week Recommends Rupert Goold’s musical has ‘demonic razzle dazzle’ in spades
-
Properties of the week: houses near spectacular coastal walksThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, Devon and Northumberland
-
Melania: an ‘ice-cold’ documentaryTalking Point The film has played to largely empty cinemas, but it does have one fan
-
Nouvelle Vague: ‘a film of great passion’The Week Recommends Richard Linklater’s homage to the French New Wave
-
Wonder Man: a ‘rare morsel of actual substance’ in the Marvel UniverseThe Week Recommends A Marvel series that hasn’t much to do with superheroes
