Wednesday 19 September 2012

REVIEW: Bell Shakespeare, School for Wives

At drama school I was taught, as I'm sure English teachers will agree, that the key to Shakespeare is the text.    For me, the actors of the Bell Shakespeare Company consistently deliver beautiful handling of Shakespeare's words to the stage. I was therefore, very interested to see how they would deal with the words of Moliere (or translation of his original French mots as the case may be). I was moderately satisfied with what I heard. Certainly I could understand what was going on, an essential element to any play, and the joy of language was present, especially with the fun use of rhyme. Perhaps my slight disappointment stemmed from my own preference for William's words over Jean-Baptiste's jokes. Seeing such a young cast (although spiking my envy) was a treat. John Adam went from strength to strength, Alexandra Aldrich delivered some delightful comedy and Harriet Dyer, although at first unsettling me with her character choices, had completely won me over by interval. Damien Richardson however did not do it for me, too much yelling. School for Wives was a thoroughly enjoyable trip to the theatre, especially once they delivered my personal favourite tidbit, a wonderful and high-spirited curtain call.