BOULDER — Poor, hapless buffoon John Falstaff, played to a frustrated fare-thee-well by in the production of Shakespeare’s
The Falstaff here is a different man than the Falstaff in “Henry IV,” though. In that play, he’s a gourmand and bon vivant. Here, he’s a fulsome, self-interested boor whose main ambition is to humiliate a couple of husbands by bedding their wives.
* * * ½ comedy
Director sets “Merry Wives” in mid-century America, in a rundown Catskills resort. There, Falstaff serves up corny, innuendo-filled jokes, but his eye is on the comely mistresses Ford ( ) and Page (Mare ), and wooing them, temporarily, from their unsuspecting husbands (respectively, anxious and laid-back ).
When wives Ford and Page discover that Falstaff has written them identical love letters seeking their favors, the women come up with a plot to school the lecher. Their husbands find out, initially misinterpreting their plans. As Ford, is wonderfully suspicious, especially in disguise as a beatnik.
Hilarity ensues, abetted by a subplot involving winsome Anne Page ( ) and paramour Fenton (a consciously Ken-doll-ish ). Both of Anne’s parents roundly despise Fenton, preferring disastrously unsuitable bachelors.
Setting “Merry Wives” in the nifty ’50s is inspired. This Falstaff was made for and s, and the women’s clothing, either bouffant skirts and wasp waists or snug suits that might have come from Joan Harris’ “Mad Men” closet, have a visual sexiness absent in Elizabethan drag.
While director Panitch leaves Shakespeare largely intact, the actors freely riff a bit. Falstaff’s scruffy accomplices Nym and Pistol, normally a pair of actors, are interpreted by as a talentless ventriloquist whose dummy gets most of the good lines.
There’s a reference to and in attempting to be seductive, Falstaff pleads, “You love , and so do I.” Swords are updated to golf clubs, shuffleboard tangs and tennis racquets, and a choreographed number about cuckolds could have been on the show.
The supporting cast is excellent, with pages dressed in preppy khaki pants or skirts, and ‘s Mistress Quickly is wonderfully arch.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin
“MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR”By William Shakespeare, directed by Seth Panitch, scene design by Kent Homchick, costumes by Hugh Hanson, choreography by Jessica Page. Featuring Peter Simon Hilton, Michael Winters, Vanessa Morosco, Mare Trevethan, Scott Bellot and Kyra Lindsey. Through Aug. 9, Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, University of Colorado-Boulder. Tickets $39 and up; coloradoshakes.org or 303-494-8008
Hey claire stop using this field!!!”merry wives of windsor”
Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Merry Wives” is set in a 1950s rundown Catskills resort.
