Hastings - bawdy romp through the middle-ages with one-man Falstaff

“Falstaff is regarded as the classic Shakespeare comic character,” Mike says, “and even if you can't think of the plays that he was in you will know that he was fat, that he was a notorious drinker, a liar and probably a coward. He was a friend of the Prince of Wales who became Henry V and he led Henry V into a life of debauchery. There is a certain fascination about him because he was a bad lad and we all love bad lads, don't we, but this fascination for me came about because of Robert Nye’s book in which Nye claimed that Shakespeare had based his Falstaff on a real-life mediaeval knight of the period called Sir John Fastolf. Nye wrote a novel based on elements of Fastolf’s life and what Shakespeare wrote and he created a monstrous character.

“Back in the 90s the great RSC stalwart David Weston adapted the book as a one-man play about Falstaff and toured it throughout the country, and fortunately for me a mutual friend introduced me to David and David very kindly said that I could play with the play if I wanted. There were two or three versions and I had to cut and paste it and make it work and so the idea was launched.”

Mike’s version premiered last year at The Ellen Terry Barn Theatre, Smallhythe.

“And then we had trouble at the mill to be honest in terms of family illness. The plan was to take it out on tour this year but that had to be postponed. So this is the first performance since Smallhythe, and the hope is to take it out on the road next year.”

For Hastings, Mike is offering a not-for-profit production in aid of The Trussell Trust: “Because David was so generous in effectively giving me this play I felt that I should give something back and so I decided that I would do it for the trust. They are a fantastic charity that does incredible work for the food banks and for people in need and so all the profits will be for them. I suspect Falstaff himself would have just drunk the profits!

“Nye’s version of the man was a monster, but mine is rather more human. He is still fairly despicable but at the end the play I would defy anybody not to feel a pang in their hearts as to what happens to Falstaff in the end. Falstaff is a part that I never wanted to play, never something that was on my list but then I was presented with this fantastic script by David and I would have been an absolute fool to have turned it down. It is a brilliant piece.”

“I think it's moving, funny and a little bit rude!”