The Secret Lives of Windsor Wives

The Merry Wives of Windsor

The crisp Autumn air wafts through the streets of Windsor. The town is alive planning all the festivities for All Hallows Eve. Overflowing with bizarre misunderstandings, ridiculous costume disguises and over-the-top comedy, Director Phillip Breen has taken William Shakespeare’s 1602 Elizabethan comedy and plopped it down in contemporary England during the Halloween holiday. And although generally not considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, Mr. Breen’s production is not only loads of fun, but he’s made the story easily accessible for every audience member. He’s even provided an LED screen that projects the dialogue, for those who prefer to read their comedies, in addition to watching them.

That’s not to say that this production has been dumbed down in any way. This is still a Shakespeare comedy. It not only contains scme of the Bard’s most picturesque poetry and cleverly witty dialogue, but it’s filled with love, jealousy, revenge, scandal, sexual innuendo and slapstick comedy—all the elements we enjoy in films and television sitcoms today. Keeping it extra contemporary, Phillip Breen has also sprinkled in a few modern day references here and there. As if  written today, THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR includes contemporary music, current choreographic moves and a few more recent recreational diversions. These only serve to make Shakespeare’s tale as “Merry” as the secret lives of Windsor Wives.

Sir John Falstaff is a giant among men. The famously full-figured fellow, with a larger-than-life libido and an ego to match, attempts to seduce two of Windsor’s most respectable women. Mistress Ford and Mistress Page plot to trick the laughable lothario and cunningly conspire to teach Falstaff a lesson. This leads to stuffing him inside a laundry basket filled with dirty clothes and dumping him into the Thames. When that doesn’t work, the Merry Wives trick Sir John into disguising himself as an old woman, who’s mistaken for a local witch and then attacked by the townsfolk. Finally, costumed as a mighty horned stag, they lure Falstaff to an eerie graveyard on All Hallows Eve. After being terrified and tormented by an army of ghostly ghouls, Falstaff finally accepts defeat. By the final curtain,  we know that everyone, except Sir John, will live happily ever after. 

The cast is uniformly terrific. Both the always astoundingly accomplished Ora Jones, and the sexy, saucy and sensational Issy van Randwyck, as Merry Wives Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, are superb. They consistently bring unbridled joy to the stage, whether diverting Falstaff’s unwanted advances, toying with their husbands’ jealousy or boogying to the beat of the music. Chike Johnson and, especially, Timothy Edward Kane are both charming and comedic as Masters Page and Ford, the not-so-merry husbands who suspect their wives of infidelity. 

As the meddling Mistress Quickly, multitalented Nancy Voigts is sweet, silly and sassy. Nate Burger’s Dr. Caius, a very funny French physician, brings lots of laughs with his exaggerated Gallic accent. Burger slays with his quirky antics and his broad, Inspector Clouseau-like characterization. This brilliantly comic actor provides one of the highlights of the production. Gifted Nick Sandys is strong and subtly side-splitting as the vicar, Sir Hugh Evans. Mr. Sandys also serves as the show’s fight coordinator. And brilliant Jason Simon’s portrayal of Falstaff is the real star of this show. He’s everything anyone would expect from this classic character: corpulent, crass and comical. Handsome Sam Bell-Burwitz and lovely Olivia Pryor play the young lovers of the subplot, Master Fenton and Ann Page. They both bring spirit, style and sincerity to the story. And last, but not least, Alex Weisman’s anxious and apprehensive Master Slender is one of the funniest, most inept romantic suitors one would ever imagine. 

The look of this production is simple, but perfectly lovely. Max Jones’ scenic design provides set pieces that move on and off  the stage with ease and effectively change the locale in seconds. His easily alterable Windsor settings are at once fluid, flexible and functional. Mr. Jones’ lovely costumes, especially the assorted ghouls, animals and super heroes in the final graveyard scene, are not only creative but frightening and funny. The look of the production is continually modified by Marcus Doshi’s strong lighting design. The show’s contemporary pop/rock sound design is an additional gift, courtesy of Lindsay Jones. And the production’s movement coordination by Christopher Chase Carter makes the play pulsate with energy.

From inventive, impressively creative guest director, Phillip Breen, comes this wildly reimagined production of one of Shakespeare’s lesser plays; but with just a few alterations, he makes it into one of the comic highlights of the season. Setting it in Autumn at Halloween, and filled with gossiping girlies, English school boys, bumbling servants and music that energize both the cast and the audience, this brash and bawdy buffoonery of a play becomes a comedy classic that theatergoers will enjoy and remember for the secret lives of those wonderful Windsor Wives.  

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented April 2-May 3 in the Courtyard Theater by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Navy Pier, Chicago.

Tickets are available by calling the box office at 312-595-5600 or by visiting their web site at www.chicagoshakes.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found at www.theatreinchicago.com.

Photos by Kyle Flubacker