Theatre | The
Merry Wives of Windsor
Reviewed by: Katherine
Brodsky
MODA MAG.COM -- Under the direction of Deal Paul Gibson, The Merry Wives of
Windsor is one of the main highlights of the Bard on the Beach
Shakespearian festival. It’s easy to see why.
The play is a fun, silly, well-staged, well-acting piece of
theatre. The Merry
Wives of Windsor is certainly one of Shakespeare’s lighter
pieces, but in this day and age, it seems like the audience can
appreciate an outing of this sort quite a bit.
The story revolves around one fat,
frivolous knight, Sir John Falstaff, whose empty pockets prompt him to
seek romantic liaisons with two wealthy housewives.
Not being of the greatest mind (nor chance), he sends identical
love letters to the two, not realizing that they are best friends,
hoping to woo his way into their fortunes.
The wives decide to play along, leading up to their merry
revenge.
The actors range a bit in both charm and talent, though all are
quite capable. It’s
easy to fall into Shakespeare’s grandiose sounding words and
gestures and at the start of the play, most of the actors do.
It provides a shaky start, but about 20-30 minutes into the
play, the actors do dive into a more natural, internal rhythm in their
acting. Two personas
steal the show whenever they appear: Colleen
Wheeler’s “Mistress Quickly” and Duncan
Fraser’s “the frivolous knight Sir John Falstaff.”
Though larger-than-life, they are appropriately so.
David Marr (“Master Ford”), Kerry
Sandomirsky (“Mistress Page”), Scott Bellis (“Doctor Caius”)
and Russell Roberts (“Sir Hugh Evan”) also turn in impressive
performances.
The show’s staging keeps up with those performances, quickly
moving between scenes and spreading the action masterfully across the
stage. Costumes are appropriate in color and their frolicsome,
high-society fit. Lighting
was quite creative and swayed from scene to scene to create a mix
between a realistic and a dream-like atmosphere.
All in all, The Merry Wives of Windsor is solid
entertainment, and a good show to allow us to drift away from the
week’s worries. And that aught to count for something, right?
For more information about this
show and Bard on the Beach, visit: http://www.bardonthebeach.org
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