Sir Anthony sidles into the little space left in my memory as the rather gaunt and sallow History Man who so horrified us when so shallow but costumed and padded with gross belly and straining belt commands this stage as Falstaff misleader of Hal, liar personified, but Life- lover as dimpled as Dionysus - eat, drink, make merry one and all for tomorrow we die.
(c) C J Heyworth
I have "lived with" Falstaff since approx 1960 when we studied a Shakespear play at school for the first time. Yesterday evening I attended our local Odeon Cinema to watch a LIVE STREAMING performance of Henry IV (i) from the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon with Sir Antony Sher playing Falstaff so well that really for the first time I understand how the character has come to be so loved.