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Viv Kennedy reviews Oddsock's The Merry Wives of Windsor at Bristol QEH Theatre

This evening, Saturday 04 February, I visited the QEH Theatre in Bristol to watch the Merry Wives of Windsor, adapted and directed by Andy Barrow and presented by Oddsocks.

Without going into too much detail the play has two main plotlines; there is the story of Mistress Anne Page, a young girl with two potential suitors, her father sees Master Slender as the best bet but Mistress Anne is more taken with Fenton, and her mother is on her side.

The other plotline forms the main part of the story and concerns the character of Falstaff who, down on his luck, decides to try to woo the wives of two local wealthy men and then steal money from them. He makes the mistake of sending identical fake love letters to the two ladies in question; when they discover this they plot, with the help of their neighbour Mrs Quickly, to get their revenge.

Meanwhile Falstaff’s sidekick and employee, Pistol, has told the two wives’ husbands about Falstaff’s intentions.

Oddsocks perform the play with a twist; the five cast members – Elli Mackenzie, Andrew McGillan, Taresh Solanki, Paul O’Neill and Avita Jay – play the parts of the players in the Television Repertory Company, who between them then play a total of 11 characters in a live recording of the play. The QEH Theatre was transformed into a 1950s TV studio, and the theatre audience become the TV studio audience. I think I’ve just confused myself trying to explain it.

Throughout the performance a screen onstage shows what the television audience at home will be able to see, as filmed through two large cameras on either side of the stage, and periodically there is a break in proceedings when the screen is taken over by adverts from the show’s sponsor, Quickly; it’s an amazing potion which can do just about anything, including curing warts, replacing the eggs in a sponge mix, cleaning windows and fixing trams, what’s more it “gets it done in half the time.”

The show was hilariously funny from the very start when, in character as the Television Repertory Company actors, the cast came out to mingle with the crowd, chatting and cleverly identifying one or two audience members who they proceeded to interact with throughout the evening. It contains live music, physical comedy; cross dressing; a Bollywood style dance routine; even low flying socks, a pair of which hit me on the shoulder. The words remain true to Shakespeare’s original play but the way in which it is presented is very different.

While there were no weak links in the cast I did particularly enjoy the performances of Andrew McGillan playing the part of actor Titus Canby playing the roles of Falstaff, Fenton and Sir Hugh Evans and of Elli Mackenzie playing the part of actress Dame Nell Backhandle playing the roles of Mrs Page and Mrs Quickly. Elli is also the show’s producer.

I’ve always been a little bit intimidated by Shakespeare, thinking it a bit too highbrow for me, Oddsocks make it very accessible, very enjoyable and a lot of fun; I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for any future productions they bring to Bristol.

Oddsocks presented the Merry Wives of Windsor at the QEH Theatre in Bristol for one night only on Saturday 04 February; their tour will now continue to Canterbury, Chipping Norton, Barnsley, Warwick and Scarborough. For further information please visit www.oddsocks.co.uk.

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