Merry Wives of Windsor

Catherine Weidner Director	Daniel Bilodeau Set Designer	Clara Jean Kelly Costume Designer	Heather Crocker Lighting Designer
Rew Tippin Sound Designer	Robert Najarian** Fight Choreographer	Melissa A. Nathan* Production Stage Manager	Ingrid Pierson* Assistant Stage Manager
Keara Lavandowska Assistant Stage Manager

Cast

Amber Baldwin* Mistress Page	Mark S. Cartier* Shallow	Quinn Corcoran Slender	Jaron Crawford Fenton
Joseph Dolan John Robert	Michael Dolan Rugby	Caitlin Duffy Host	Sarah Goldman Anne Page
Robbie Harrison Simple	James Noel Hoban* Master Page	Lawrence James* Master Ford	Tessa Martin Quickly
Robert Najarian* Dr. Caius	Caitlin Ort Mistress Ford	Bill Van Horn* Falstaff

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

From the Director

Rumor has it that Queen Elizabeth I commissioned this play from Shakespeare in order to see the character of Falstaff in a comic light and a leading role. Two weeks later, with only a short passage written in verse, Shakespeare provided this high-spirited farce with a moral twist, one that has entertained audiences ever since. The play resonates today because the women are in charge for a change; and it also illuminates the mischief and mayhem that result from making snap judgments. It’s fun to imagine how we could update the setting, have all the messages sent via Twitter feed, and have some fun at the expense of the current political climate; or, take a more serious approach and have Falstaff in a white bathrobe, reading Variety, and then thrown into jail in the forest to fend for himself. Boom!

But instead, we’ve set the play in a time when “Father Knows Best” in part to set that concept on its ear, to focus on how far we’ve come, and acknowledge the journey ahead. Our production takes the long view: we’re all in this together, our words and actions matter, and we need to look at our own behavior and make changes. We do this through the lens of physical comedy, honoring the work of legends Flip Wilson, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, and Carol Burnett, and by filtering in new voices from Awkwafina, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, and Tina Fey. Putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances is the classic recipe for comedy, and right now, we could all use a hearty laugh–with a little grace and forgiveness thrown in for good measure.