Shakespeare”s plays ‘boost cow milk production’

Farmers have claimed that scenes from the William Shakespeare play ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ boosted cow milk production by four per cent.

Actors of local Changeling Theatre Company, performed the “entertaining” play for Friesian cows at the Pleasant Farm, near Maidstone, Kent.

“We selected scenes from the play we felt to be lyrical and relaxing,” the Telegraph quoted Rob Forknall, the group’s artistic director as saying.

“It started off as a rather a bizarre experiment after I was talking to a farmer about whether Shakespeare would have the same effect on cows as classical music.

“We were all slightly surprised when it did. Since then we’ve done several rehearsals with the cows. It saves us having to book rehearsal space and the farmer’s very pleased to get more milk,” Forknall added.

The farmers decided to choose a lighthearted comedy instead of Bard”s tragedies so as not to ‘upset’ the cows.