The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
 

SHAKESPEARE is notable for spicing his tragedies with touches of comedy and, conversely, his comedies with tragic grace notes. Right on key with our ongoing election shenanigans, the RST launches arguably the playwright’s only true farce.

Blanche McIntyre knows that the essence of successful farce depends on pace and timing and her perfectly pitched production carries the play’s well-worked content of what were, even for the Bard, old gulling jokes with confident energy.

But even this wouldn’t work without a team of actors who can handle the improbabilities of the plot convincingly.