Not my favourite Shakespeare play, and not one I know all that well, so I was interested in seeing what the RSC would do with it. Well, they have decided to give it a fabulous set, a great cast and a pace that would make Usain Bolt jealous! The production bowls along (quite literally at one point!) so fast that you have no time to spot the daft plot, which is very handy in this particular case.
The set is a major item of this production, solid yet swift to change, versatile and capable of producing some stunning, almost TV, visual effects (the fly out and fade at the end of the first scene is so effective!).
Set just before the First World War the production ends on a special note; instead of going to the hermitage (or hospital) the lads are off to war ... very effective, particularly as we saw it on 11th Nov 2014 ... a moving and understated tribute.
The play has gone up in my estimation, though really it is not the play itself but the production that, like some over-enthusiastic puppy, simply refused to not be likeable!
