A merry time thanks to Judi; MERRY WIVES THE MUSICAL Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford.

Byline: ALISON DAYANI

OSCAR winner Judi Dench is such a success that she can now even influence what is performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

For it was her idea to team up again with director Gregory Doran for a musical, which has resulted in this fun piece of panto meets the bard.

Among a particularly strong cast of Simon Callow, Alistair McGowan and Haydn Gwynne, Dench still stole the show as meddlesome Mistress Quickly, her flame-haired curly wig defying her age.

Dench's perfect comic timing, painful out of key singing and coquettish behaviour in the heavily embellished role were beguiling.

Callow's hugely bloated Falstaff drew plenty of laughs too, particularly when in the bath, while McGowan proved he has well honed acting talents in this tale of love and practical jokes. But there was a mismatch in the costumes with punk rockers alongside I Love Lucy-style 1950s glamour and medieval garb.

And although the songs didn't really add anything to this comedy, their parody of famous West End musicals were humour itself. This was an enjoyable, well acted, fun change for Shakespeare regulars.

Until February 10.

VERDICT: *****

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TALENTED... stars of the show, from left, Judi Dench, Haydn Gwynne, Scarlett Strallen, Simon Callow and Alexandra Gilbreath. Picture: Emma Lee