Making ‘Merry’
Fans of Shakespeare will have surely heard of the Bard’s most famous comical character, Falstaff. He’s the comically overweight knight who likes to partake in drinking and thievery shenanigans with Prince Hal throughout “Henry IV” Part 1 and 2. It’s Shakespeare’s later play, “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (with Falstaff as its star), that fans may be less familiar with. Written in response to Queen Elizabeth’s request for a play about the unruly knight, “Merry Wives” is silly and humorous, detailing two wives pulling pranks on everyone’s favorite funny guy.
The plot for the story goes as follows: After Falstaff arrives to Windsor short on money, he decides that, to help with this predicament, he will simultaneously seduce two wealthy wives, Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and steal their husbands’ fortunes. Of course, the wives see through Falstaff’s ill-planned attempts and decide to devise comical schemes to shame and humble the knight.
As part of its summer Shakespeare program, Flock Theatre will be staging the play tonight through Sunday, following earlier showings of Parts I and II of “Henry IV.” And they’ve made sure to make the play as funny as possible (and trust us, it is), casting local actress Suzanne Wingrove, who is a Shakespeare expert, to play Falstaff. She brings a fresh, and not to mention hilarious, take on the rascal, while Brandon Tyler plays a genius Ford/Brook — the wildly jealous husband who goes to great lengths to catch his wife cheating with Falstaff.
The Flock production, directed by Derron Wood, will also feature Danielle McGuire as Mistress Ford, Aimee Blanchette as Mistress Page, Jon Wenc as Page and Eric Michaelian as Doctor Caius. “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Connecticut College Arboretum, 270 Mohegan Ave., New London; 7 p.m. tonight through Sunday; $20 adults, $15 students, seniors and active military; lawn chairs and blankets, bug spray and sweaters are recommended; (860) 443-3119, flocktheatre@hotmail.com.