Ben Elton’s
Blackadder-esque take on the trials and tribulations of William Shakespeare, played
by David Mitchell, ended its six-part run last night and this morning got a poor
review from the critic in the i, citing for example ‘lumpen allusions to the
plays’ and some unimaginative ‘women are from Venus, men are from Mars’ gags; I
have to disagree as I found the references to the plays clever and amusing
(maybe because for those of us with little more than a working knowledge of the
bard’s works, lumpen works fine) and the thought the translation of modern
gender stereotyping back to the sixteenth century (where it better belongs)
quite appropriate, with the ‘outing’ of the girl, pretending to be a boy so she
can be an actor portraying a girl, through her packed lunch of a dainty salad
being spot on.
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