Anna Burnside reviews Bard in the Botanics' reimagined production of a Shakespearean comedy.
Introducing one of only eight Shakespeare plays that he has never attempted to stage, director Gordon Barr does not mince his words. He admits in the programme notes: “It isn’t very good”.
He addressed Shakesepeare’s failings - a bold project for anyone - by making free with the red pen and adding in text from other scripts that deal with similar themes. These are love, jealousy and deception, so he had plenty of material to work with.
The other reason he was ready to give it a go was the central character: Sir John Falstaff. Alan Steele was shortlisted in the CATS Awards for this role in Henry IV last year. Following that triumph, Barr could not resist putting him at the centre of one of this year’s outdoor performances.
Setting it in Wishaw is a masterstroke. The original is the only play Shakespeare set in the world he lived in, and Barr’s alliterative stand-in for aspirational Windsor is the North Lanarkshire town. This gives the production a Two Doors Down energy which works very well with the highly coloured characters and daft sitcom plot.
That plot is a pretty slight one - Falstaff washes up in Wishy and sets about wooing two of the town’s fair ladies for their money. There is another love interest plot, with his sidekick, Ned Poins. They are a great double act, Steele’s paunchy debauchery offset by Johnny Panchaud’s goofy but earnest turn as his manservant.
The pair’s opening sequence, a live travel montage not a million miles from the recent Barbie movie, is a particular delight.
But all of this is sparked joy, from the clever use of a campy suburban soundtrack to Barr’s brilliant decision to substitute the hamper where Falstaff hides from a jealous husband with a pink wheelie bin.
The lurid costumes and stage set hit the perfect modern Abigail’s Party note. Alice Foster, played with huge gusto by Alice Ford, is particularly fetching in mismatched leopard and purple GoGo boots.
Barr and many of these actors do panto duty in St Andrews ever year, and there is a little of that energy visible here. In the best possible way. Shakespeare’s plays, in their time, were popular entertainments, and if that’s what Barr and co set out to reproduce they have smashed it.
The Merry Wives of Wishaw performs at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens as part of Bard in the Botanics' 2024 summer season. It performs until July 27, 2024. For more information, including weather updates, check their website.
Photo by Tom Duncan.