“Wives may be merry, and yet honest too.”

That old scoundrel, the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, erstwhile pal of Prince Hal, is down on his luck.

Seeing a way to restore his fortunes, he schemes to seduce both Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, the wives of two wealthy merchants.

He sends them identical love letters, but his double-dealing ruse is discovered, and the two ladies determine to teach him a lesson.

Meanwhile, the irrationally jealous Frank Ford has heard of Falstaff’s plan and decides to test his wife’s fidelity.

And in a subplot of young love, the Pages’ daughter, Anne, is pursued by three suitors, each of whom is paying Falstaff’s old crony Mistress Quickly to push their cause.

There is much mayhem, dodgy disguises, misdirected letters, a duel and a midnight denouement, before the tangle is unraveled, the men-behaving-badly get their comeuppance, and the good prevail.

Shakespeare’s bright and breezy comedy of sexual jealousy, where clever women are forced to put up with dull, ego-centric men, is given an 80s reboot, the fun played out against a landscape of suburban aspirations and neon-hued bad taste.

“Jealousy and lechery divert in a sparkling romcom” The Guardian

“Falstaff is Shakespeare’s greatest creation” Orson Welles