By John Fletcher & William Shakespeare
At The RSC

Finally I’ve got my act together and I’m about to fill you in a sizable treat which is showing at Stratford-Upon-Avon presently and will be until February 2017. So easily enough time to book tickets, flights and gift yourself with 2hrs 35mins of ‘gee I made a great decision’.

A great decision based on an extraordinary cast, fabulous direction and an interesting exploration into friendship, desire, attraction and arranged unions.

Oh and a massive thumbs up for the staging and props – for the action is lively to say the least, so when Arcite and Palamon get a little heated up, you receive a huge serving of energy, involvement and anxiety. Anxiety?…Indeed…for they are accomplished swordsmen and the way they speed up the iron fencing, there are moments you despair that they might fall on an entranced audience member or perhaps really hurt themselves. But yes…this concern of ‘will they, won’t they’, just adds to the excitement and your experience.

Did I use the word entranced? I meant to keep that to describe the effect Frances McNamee (who plays Emilia) had on me, so thanks to Thesaurus.com, I’ll throw in a couple of adjectives (or they could be verbs) to characterise her and her performance. Bewitching, mesmerizing and simply stunning (oh there was adverb). The moment she hits the stage, you don’t see anyone else.  You also feel for her, for the choices she has to make and the choices she can’t.

And other goods news – this is the beginning of the Winter season, so chances are you can catch most members of this remarkable cast in other productions showing in The Swan. So I’d say best approach here, buy tickets to both The Seven Acts of Mercy and The Rover as well.