The Merry Wives of Windsor

June 6 – October 13, 2017 Allen Elizabethan Theatre

Multimedia The Buzz Suitability / Accessibility Español The Artists

Big-city guile meets small-town wiles

Sir John Falstaff—Prince Hal’s amoral drinking buddy from the Henry IVs—and his entourage are wearing out their welcome in Windsor. The quiet little burg isn’t big enough for his antics and appetites, especially when he sets his lecherous sights on Mistresses Page and Ford and their money. Meanwhile, Mistress Page’s winsome daughter, Anne, is under romantic siege from several local admirers. It’s a hilarious battle of wits as the merry wives and their neighbors go to town on Falstaff and try to make rubes of him and his city slickers.

This production of The Merry Wives of Windsor is part of Shakespeare in American Communities, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

Show length is approximately 3 hours including one intermission.

#MerryWivesOSF

The Buzz

It would appear that the company has outdone itself again, even by its own high standards. The Merry Wives of Windsor is yet another gem.

Ashland Daily Tidings

I just saw #MerryWivesOSF last week. It was AMAZING! I'm bringing my husband back for our anniversary, so I can see it again.

Jessica Cavanaugh

[#MerryWivesOSF]: Hilariously funny - beautifully directed, great casting, just a lot of fun. We saw opening, and I can't wait to see it again later in the summer!

Karen Easterbrook

KT Vogt was amazing! The whole production had us grooving and laughing all night. Thank you OSF!

@heatherktu

#MerryWivesOSF was the stuff of 80s-Power-Ballad-Karaoke-Meets-Shakespeare dreams. Wack-a-do fun!

@LalaTellsAStory

[Merry Wives]: Dawn Monique Williams, the entire cast, and everyone else involved are to be commended for the sheer giddy enjoyment found in this gem of a production.

Siskiyou Daily News

Suitability Suggestions

The Merry Wives of Windsor is the only play of Shakespeare’s that is set in Elizabethan England. As such it is a fascinating glimpse into town life in Shakespeare’s own day. The play centers on two witty middle-class women, Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and their comic plots to expose a lecherous knight who has made advances to both of them. The amorous man is none other than Sir John Falstaff, Prince Hal’s amoral mentor from the Henry IV plays, transported 200 years forward in time to be the comic foil of this delightful farce. While Mistress Page is busy bringing Falstaff down a notch, her daughter Anne is busy defying convention by concocting a scheme to marry the man of her choosing instead of the man of her parents’ choosing.

Despite some bawdiness of a man trying to have affairs with not one but two married women, the play has an innocence and sweetness to it, and everyone’s honor remains firmly intact. There is much gentle poking of fun at the foibles of small-town life, but at the end everyone shares in a spirit of forgiveness and community.

Accessibility

The Allen Elizabethan Theatre is outfitted with an elevator for balcony seating.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is committed to accessibility. We recognize the needs of persons with disabilities and strive to make our facilities and productions accessible to all. OSF offers a variety of accommodations, outlined here.

El engaño urbano contra la astucia pueblerina

El Señor John Falstaff – el poco escrupuloso compañero de copas del Príncipe Hal – y sus discípulos están fastidiando a sus anfitriones en Windsor. En este pueblo tranquilo no caben las payasadas y apetitos del Sr. John, y menos cuando él se fija la mirada lasciva en las Señoras Page y Ford y en su dinero. Entre tanto, Ann, la muy presentable hija de la Sra. Page, sufre de exceso de atenciones románticas por parte de varios admiradores locales. Es una divertidísima batalla de ingenios cuando las alegres esposas y la vecindad se enfocan en Falstaff con la intención de descubrirlos por patanes a él y a sus tramposos compañeros urbanos.

Idoneidad pesar de la indecencia de un hombre que intenta tener romance con dos mujeres casadas, la comedia tiene un aire inocente y dulce y el honor de todos sale claramente intacto. Se hace mucha burla - por tierna que sea - de las debilidades de la vida poblana, pero al final todos comparten un espíritu de perdón y de comunidad.