I really enjoyed this production of a play that I think I'd been made to suffer as an 8 or 9 year old, giving me a natural aversion to it. Fifty five years later I was fortunately able to see what an excellent play it is - warm and engaging but a vehicle for some of Shakespeare's amazing insights, particularly the 'all the world's a stage' and the seven ages of man. I'd read a reasonably comprehensive synopsis of the quite complicated plot - two separate pairs of brothers at war with each other; woman dressed as man; everyone reconciled at the end with four parallel weddings - and so was well able to follow what was going on. But I think I would have been able to anyway with this clear National Theatre production that engaged me from the start.
The set was creative and spectacular, though the major scene change suffered a glitch. It was so spectacular that the audience applauded, only for the technical manager to walk on stage to say it had gone wrong and they'd need a few minutes to sort it out. A squad of hard-hatted stage hands unscrambled the egg and put things right and we carried on with the erstwhile desks of the opening scene now playing the parts of trees.
There were many inventive moments, with the people playing sheep standing out as one of the most heart-warming. The singing pieces were excellent and overall it was a brilliant NT evening. I'm glad I followed the advice of the favourable reviews and ignored the less positive. So, judging by the applause, were the rest of the audience.
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