Sunday, April 29, 2012

A fast-paced Swahili romp through Shakespeare's timeless domestic comedy

Globe to Globe: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe

Mrisho Mpoto's Falstaff woos Lydiah Gitachu's Mistress Ford.


Of all Shakespeare’s plays, his reprise of Falstaffian humour to please Queen Bess is surely the most specific in its prosaic gallimaufry of earthy English vocabulary. Yet it’s also the most universal in its target-practice at the lecherous, traditionally overbuilt gentleman-hero. So it was easy enough to forego relish of words like "wittol", "frampold" and "drumble", not to mention the choicest fat-man insults, and just enjoy the broader brushstrokes of the fun had by independent-minded Nairobi wives at the expense of Mrisho Mpoto’s jolly Sir John throughout this exuberant production in Swahili from Bitter Pill and The Theatre Company Kenya.....


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