Merry Wives: The Musical, RSC Stratford

Too much Merriment for one evening

So the RSC have decided to put on a musical. The Complete Works season has obviously been getting a bit much for them and they have approached director Gregory Doran to put on a production where they can have lots of fun, be a bit silly and prove to people that Troilus and Cressida isn’t the extent of their comic acting. And the way they do it? They set some Shakespeare to music, get Dame Judi Dench to sing, put Simon Callow in a fat suit and a parson in long-johns. The result is a bawdy gang show which is, yes, sometimes remotely funny.

You realise why Judi Dench as Mistress Quickly and Simon Callow as Sir John Falstaff have not appeared in more musicals. Listening to their singing, it baffles me why they were so keen to appear in one when it’s so obviously not their forté. Judi is croakier than ever and tries to push out high notes like a steam engine puffing out steam. Simon Callow simply has problems sticking to a tune and Simon Cowell would most certainly have something to say to him.

I recently read Anthony Sher’s book Year of the King, in which he expresses his belief that the character of Falstaff is more successful if played by a slim actor since they play it with their head, rather than their stomach. This argument is proved totally in Callow’s performance where Falstaff IS his fatsuit. He is of an outrageous size (I’m sure Shakespeare never meant for him to be this vast, like something off Supersize Me) and all of his movements, thoughts and dialogue are preoccupied with his obesity. His baring-all in the bath brings the house down but after three hours of this, it simply gets boring.

The music is written by Paul Englishby and lyrics by Ranjit Bolt. There are few memorable songs in the show. It opens with an incredibly dreary number, Let’s Cast Away Care, and seems to, from then on, drift through equally bland numbers and it’s only in the middle of Act II where we get our first rousing number in the country-style Merry Wives in which the cast start doing a Stomp impersonation, banging pots, pans and bin lids.

Thankfully, while Dench and Callow need some throat lozenges and voice training, there are some strong vocals coming from the supporting ranks, namely Scarlett Strallen as Anne Page and Martin Crewes as Fenton. They share a nice duet and a couple of pleasant ballads, the only chance for reflection and a breather in this giddy show.

It blasts along with a drunken energy. Towards the end of Act I as the action descends into pure chaos, it’s like watching a school drama group in lunch break. You consider that this could be the RSC’s on-stage after-show party for the Complete Works. The show ends with the totally bizarre sequence of actors dressed up as fairies and ghouls, with Falstaff as a deer, randily jiggling ladies on his knee. There are some funny moments scattered throughout the production, however, and Alistair McCowan as Frank Ford plus Simon Trinder as the young Slender display very good comic timing, as does the Dame herself.

It’s a strange old show and one that for the RSC, I’m sorry to say, displays a real lack of talent in the cast. Or certainly not talent for this type of theatre. I guess Julie Walters decided it was high-time that she appeared in a musical and so Acorn Antiques was born. Judi clearly felt a bit miffed and so Merry Wives: The Musical came into the world. What we deduce from the experience is that Judi Dench should stick to straight acting and the RSC should stick to straight Shakespeare.

Anna Brewer : 07 Jan 2007 11:02 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem