Henry IV Part I

Annual Visitor (29Apr19): Been to the Globe annually for many years - am not local. This is the only poor production I have seen. Under-rehearsed obviously (27th April) with actors talking over their cues and stumbling over their lines from the first page onwards. I have appreciated the merits of female actors playing roles written for male actors in the past - but this was just laughable. This was a poor REP company performance (at best) - apart from Hotspur. For me the silliness came to a head when the "landlady" was played by a male actor, imitating Mrs Brown down to the accent, in a largely female company. The whole thing was nothing more than a third rate drag act pantomime masquerading as theatre. It may well go down well with other audiences - but it wasn't for me. The cross-gender performances added no value whatsoever - but they did detract from the play. Others may well enjoy it of course - so ignore me!