Sparkleshark By Philip Ridle & The Merry Wives Of Windsor, by William Shakespeare

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Philip Ridley grew up in the heart of the East End. From his earliest
years he told stories and drew pictures. It is not suprising then that his play, commissioned for The National Theatre's New Connections 97, should be a mix of menance and magic. The action takes place on the roof of a tower block, where Jake, the bullied classroom keek, takes refuge from his tormentors. Jakes writes stories. When the other teenagers join him the become enmeshed in a fantasy about a princess, a dragon, a forest, and a suitor in search of impossible gifts.
Shakespeare's The Merry Wives Of Windsor, is his most middle-class play and one of his most farcical. It's comic intrigues bring together upper and lower classes and draw them together into a burgeoning middle class. This production set in 1940 ( with punk rockers and street dancing, for good measure!) will give you some hearty laughs as the playful but virtuous wives take their revenge on their unfortunate suitor.