Twelfth Night Revisited

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2006)

Queen Elizabeth I once asked Shakespeare to write a play showing Falstaff in love. This play, "The Merrie Wives of Windsor" was performed at Christmas in London's Temple Church. Imagine ~ what if Queen Elizabeth had asked for a play showing Shakespeare in love? How would it have turned out? Would Will have been the buffoon that Falstaff is in "Merrie Wives"? Or would he have been a dashing romantic? Unfortunately (for history) we will never know. But! wait ~~ another playwright has done just that &, in "Shakespeare In Love" we finally see how irresistibly foolish, daring & resourceful Will would/might have been! A superb cast including Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare), Gwen Paltrow (Viola) & Dame Judi Dench (Queen Elizabeth); a witty & captivating screenplay; a vivid portrait of life in Tudor England; ~ in short, a play that could have been written by the Bard with Shakespeare's "Love" providing the inspiration for his greatest romantic work "Romeo and Juliet". Now, that is a play Queen Elizabeth I would have regally enjoyed in Temple Church!