Merry Wives of Windsor

I had one of the most enjoyable experiences IÂ’ve ever had in theatre last night. ArenaÂ’s production of ShakespeareÂ’s Merry Wives of Windsor was so delightful and entertaining. Congratulations must go to Jo Williams for her original spin on one of the classics and for her brilliant direction. The actors were outstanding, presenting such a diverse range of characters, from an American priest to a French doctor. It is impossible to single out any particular actor because all were so committed.

I took some of my Year 11 and 12 students to see the performance and they all agreed how fantastic the show was. Not only has Arena produced a quality play, theyÂ’ve made Shakespeare accessible to younger viewers, Baz Lurhman style. There is also quite a bit of eye candy, guys and girls! IÂ’m telling you all now, GO AND SEE IT! ItÂ’s fantastic!

Again, congratulations on an outstanding show!!!

Oblivious D

OMG ... this play was one of the best weve seen all year! We are Year 11 students from Oblivious D's Drama Class and we thought it was absolutely hilarious and so brilliantly performed, thanks to the wonderful modernisation of the script. Well done to all the actors who performed really well, not to mention the HOTTIES!!! First of all, Alex McArthur who played Puck was incredibly GORGEOUS .. and of course he did a good representation of such a classic character. Secondly, Michael Abercromby, as Slender was sooooo absolutely positively ADORABLE!!! I don't think we were the only ones who fell in love with him because the audience totally adored him, including the boys!!! And finally, Gareth Bradshaw played such a brilliantly SEXILY AMUSING Dr Caius who had the HOTTEST French accent!!! To top off our wonderufl night, Aleisha got us HUGS from those three hotties!!! YAY!!! =] Boys feel free to come our way!!! Well done guys!

luv always manda & leisha xxooxx

P.S. feel free to attend our Year 11 Drama Production of 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' on Wednesday the 26th of October 2005 at Ballajura Community College Performing Arts Centre...

Im glad you all enjoyed the show! I think i was going to dragged along to your production of the doll anyway because a friend of mine Jess Dowson was doing her prac at your school. Anyway thanks again for the support it is greatly appreciated.

I have seen a few SHakespeare shows in the last two years and this is the only one i wanted to speak of. I saw tHe Merry Wives of Windsor on itsÂ’ opening night and thought it was great. Shakespeare without pretention,with guts,with meaning, Great acting from the girls, Keenan,Duxbury,Nicholas and Luster. Great acting from the boys
Milne,Lamont and Ambercromby. As my daughter is pointing out this is in the review part of this computer site, and she and her friends loved the show, so my negative comments would be there were some marring postitions of actors the director didn;t take into account for us sitting at the sides but in the positive it was a very funny show that the bard would be proud of. He is alive and well in this theatre company's hands. Thank you for a great nights entertainment and i shall be telling my friends about it. As should all of you.

WOO HOO !!!! go gail ! hehe u hot thang ! - I heard the show was awesome ... and really funny ! well done to the cast anyway !!

luv ya gail !

xo

Hey "ams" What dya mean "you HEARD the show was awesome"? Why haven't you been to see it for yourself?!!!!
You've only 2 nights left to catch this masterpiece, Friday and Saturday. O yeh, warning, RUG_UP, it can get pretty cold.

lol
gail xxxx

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Shakespeare has made a greater contribution to the English language than any other individual ever. His work stands the test of time, not only as literature but also as (capital D) Drama. This production thus becomes part of a living heritage. The question is - is it worthy?

The director thinks so. She says they use "signs, symbols and portents" (not to mention the soundtrack) from our modern world "to make Shakespeare understandable, accessible and, above all, fun". After all, at the end of the day, old Bill was a showman and then as now, 'bums on seats' was the name of the game.

I think they succeed. The language is antiquated and hard to understand, but you get the general idea (and most of the jokes) from the manner of delivery. I can just imagine Queen Bess cackling away at Falstaff's antics. The cast also seem to be enjoying themselves, which I am sure is what WS intended.

My thanks to Arena and all who sail in her for having a go and putting on a great show. Finally, I don't usually single out cast members, but I do thank Michael Lamont for being living confirmation of the Bard's immortal words "Big Blokes with Beards be Beautiful".



Thou spleeny dismal-dreaming haggard!

On behalf of the entire cast and crew, I'd just like to say a quick thanks to everyone who saw the show (and especially those who gave such glowing reviews!)

The show was a pleasure to perform, and was made especially wonderful with receptive audiences. I'm sure we hope to see you all again some time soon (or at least hope you see us again some time soon).

Hope you all enjoyed the show as much as we did!

Lots of love and some Guinness too (argh Heathway/Drug Aware... it's not REAL Guinness, I wouldn't have drunk any of it if it was!),

Ellen / Bardolph

oh my god, what a fantastic show! Kudos to Alex McArthur for those fantastic abs. I'm also a student of Oblivious D and she took us to watch the show. I also loved Patrick Downes how American accent. Loved it, keep rocking guys!!!