The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Brian Vaughn
Starring Suzanne O’Donnell, Jean Tafler, and John Ahlin
Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando FL</strong>
As dirty old men go, Sir John Falstaff (Ahlin) is ambitious: he plans to seduce two respectable women simultaneously, and he’s not planning to bathe for either of them. He just needs their cash, so it’s not like he’s a serious home wrecker. When he proposes this to his drinking buddies, even they find the idea so repugnant they refuse to deliver the letters of seduction. That falls to Boy Scout Robin (Luke Timmel). He may be young, but he knows when to put his hand out. Mrs. Page (O’Donnell) get the first letter; she’s shocked and amused, and when the second letter alights next door with Mrs. Ford (Tafler) they concoct a scheme worthy of Lucy and Ethel. Not only do they hoodwink Falstaff, they nail him three times in a row. He’s clearly a philosopher focused on that very small head of his. Like all Shakespearean comedies there a sub plot over on the other network; it involves a three way attack on the maidenhead of daughter Anne Page (Danielle Reneè). There’s the goofy and shy Slender (Rashad Guy), the pompous and overly French Dr. Caius (Chris Mixon) and the rockabilly slick Master Fenton (Christopher Joel Onken). Only one can have her, and every adult with a dog in the fight has a wacky scheme to match her up to their own desires. Good thing teens always outsmart the old folks.
While this is one of the repertory shows, the set is unique to the production. It’s a Populuxe dream of suburban post war odd angles and bright colors; the women are in happy aprons while the men commute off on empty freeways to jobs selling us the future. Mr. Page is played by the smiling Jamil A. C. Mangan; he’s improved his position in society from his role in Mockingbird while his neighbor Mr. Ford (Warren Kelly) takes on a surreal comic role as the nearly cuckhold husband. The pair fit together well; when they show up in golf drag in the last act you’ll never take up the sport without thinking of them. But Mr. Kelley’s funniest work comes as he poses as Brooks; he’s a flamenco master as he pries plot points out of the suspiciously unsuspicious Falstaff. The other outstanding male role was Dr. Caius: part maitre’d, part wily swordsman, he did his absolute best playing the man so full of himself he had to carry the extra hairpiece in a suitcase. Other noteworthy roles were poodle skirted Mistress Quickly (Allison DeCaro) and scheming Master Shallow (Mark Ferrero) in his fez. Why a fez? Why not, that whole Raccoon Lodge thing was big in those days.
While the original jokes struggled to get a laugh (“cuckhold” was a laugh line in 1602, today it’s a Jeopardy question) there was plenty of over the top silliness here. The show occasionally took time out for some 5th wall shenanigans; Halloween costumed dancing and inexplicable choreography jarred the audience from complacency. The set (by Bert Scott) was bright and cheery; bars and beauty salons replaced all those dreary Shakespearian settings with their poor plumbing and bad ventilation. This is nowhere near a traditional production, yet it takes on a glow of nostalgia and a 1960’s innocence, and even Falstaff ends up a sympathetic stooge to his own pretentions. Odds are you don’t remember the 60’s anymore: it’s not just the lack of drugs; it’s more likely your lack of old age. Trust me, EVERYTHING back then looked like it was shot in “Living Color,” just like this “Merry Wives.”
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