The Merry Performers of Christchurch

The other day, I made my merry way down to Christchurch and met up with some old friends and colleagues at Priory House, the venue for the annual open-air production by the Bournemouth Shakespeare Players. I had performed with BSP the previous year in Romeo and Juliet and enjoyed every moment of it, so I was naturally looking forward to seeing some old cast mates again. This year’s performance was the Merry Wives of Windsor, and saw the debut of many new comers to the company.

One of the many appeals of BSP is their ability to continue to make Shakespeare an accessible playwright for contemporary audiences, and once more their production of Merry Wives didn’t disappoint. The performance as a whole was brilliant, the bawdy humour of the Bard joyfully produced with a blend of verbal and visual comedy and the convoluted plot lucid. The production certainly captures the fun of the Merry Wives as one of Shakespeare’s more light hearted comedies.

Keeping the original Elizabethan dialogue, but bringing the setting forward to the 1940s, the play tells the tale of Sir John Falstaff (Paul Nelson), who arrives in Windsor somewhat short on finances. In an attempt to remedy his financial short-comings, Falstaff endeavours to woo two wealthy married women, Mistress Page (Dawn Hollington) and Mistress Ford (Kerry Jackman), by sending them identical love letters. Learning of Falstaff’s duplicity, Page and Ford decide that for their own amusement they will take revenge on him, tricking Falstaff into believing they are interested in his advances - much to the perturbation of Mistress Ford‘s jealous husband (Ryan Gregg), who in turn assumes the false identity of ‘Master Brook’ (equipped with west-country accent) to uncover his wife’s suspected unfaithfulness.

Meanwhile, the most desirable daughter of Mistress Page, Anne Page (Kimberley Scott), is being courted by three worthy suitors; Slender (Joseph Sales), the French Doctor Caius (Daniel Sutton-Boulton), and Fenton (Sean Beaumont). This is Scott’s first performance with BSP, but having seen her perform in several other productions beforehand she is clearly very much at one with the stage and an effortlessly talented actress, conveying a demure, yet strong-willed Anne. Sales, now in his third performance with BSP, brings a spectacularly socially-awkward and enamoured Slender to the stage, attempting to woo Anne in a style reminiscent of watching Bambi learning to walk. Sutton-Boulton portrays the ridiculously pompous Caius magnificently, his mock-French accent a source of great amusement in itself, and Beaumont as the more balanced suitor, Fenton, whom Anne ends up eloping with.

Whilst every single member of the cast performed magnificently, and I would credit all of them individually but I’ll probably end up rambling on forever and repeating my rather limited list of adjectives (brilliant, fantastic, marvellous, splendid), two characters in particular stole the show. Both Nelson’s Falstaff and Sutton-Boulton’s Caius were spectacular, their larger than life and vibrant characters leaving a great impression on the audience. A special mention should also go to director and producer, Kevin Dicker, who had to pick up the role of Hugh Evans two weeks prior to the opening night (although you certainly would never know it). And I feel I should also mention Isabelle Maclaren as the Hostess of the Garter Inn, another first-time performer and natural actress, a great addition to this exemplary cast. And also Ryan Gregg as the spectacularly paranoid and jealous Ford; but as I say, I’d end up rambling on for eternity if I were to mention all of the performers!

The costumes, designed and created by Kerry Jackman, were all of an incredibly high standard (as with every year!) and recognisably of the mid-1900s, aside from Doctor Caius who looked more like 19th century gentry, but being ridiculous and pompous he’s allowed to do that! Jackman continues to produce fantastically brilliant (see, I said I only knew a few adjectives!) outfits, most of which can be found on her blog (Designs by Kerry), along with a rather unflattering image of me…

Marred only by the standard issues of any open air performance, such as the less-than-summery weather the south coast has been enjoying recently, and the interrupting seagull who thought something by Chekov would have been more fitting (haha, classical theatre joke, haha!), the Bournemouth Shakespeare Players once more have triumphed with another fantastic performance.

As their website states, “every member of this company is a credit to the bard”, and I am more than inclined to agree!