The year is 1598—albeit with a jukebox and karaoke machine—and pub landlady and rat-catcher Liz receives a marriage proposal from the wealthy, besotted Spencer who fell in love with her when he saw her putting out the bins. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
When a sword-fight breaks out among visiting merchants, she is unfairly blamed and flees from Plymouth to another pub, in Cornwall, owned by Spencer’s family. She still refuses to be beholden to her ardent and generous admirer, but after he goes to Spain to care for wounded soldiers and is captured by the enemy, she and the pub regulars set sail intending to bring his body home.
But fear not, gentles. This is a frothy comedy, written by Elizabethan playwright Thomas Heywood, rewritten by Isobel McArthur, best known for Pride and Prejudice (*sort of), so love conquers all, all ends happily and the audience leaves with a glad glow to beat the winter cold.
McArthur’s witty verse is a joy, full of self-mocking amateur / pentameter jokiness. The plot may be rather thin fare, but is enriched by a flavouring of social commentary, and is brought to life brilliantly by the quick-fire production, which McArthur also directs.
There are some memorable entrances, from a wooden horse to a radio-controlled rat, from the King of Spain and a pop-up pop group to clog-dancing fairies. Why the cloggies? For the sheer fun of it, of course.
The soundscape by composer Michael John McCarthy and music director Tarek Merchant complements the action in the same spirit of complicit mockery, mixing new material with familiar hits. As Liz and crew near the Spanish coast, what else would it be but "Eviva España", clapped along enthusiastically in the stalls. A band plays in the actual theatre bar too, adding to the pre-show atmosphere, and there is a good running gag on stage about jukebox numbers.
Designer Ana Ines Jabares-Pita is responsible both for the set, which includes a few chairs around the stage from the nearby Dirty Duck pub in Stratford-upon-Avon, and for the wonderful, wacky costumes, many of them glimpsed just for a few riotous moments.
Amber James gives a fine, boisterous performance as Liz, every word as clear as crystal despite all the goings-on. Philip Labey manages the difficult job of making Spencer humbly heroic in round hose, Tom Babbage blags his way tirelessly as the free-loading, letter-opening, gossipy Windbag, Matthew Woodyatt is a grief and panic-ridden Bardolf.
The entire actor-musician cast work well as an ensemble, including Richard Katz, an impressive chorus figure, Aruhan Galieva a suitably assertive Roughman and Emmy Stonelake as Liz’s ebullient sidekick Clem, although her assumed accent meant I did not pick up all her lines.