By Matt Adams
In William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, the rotund and aged Sir John Falstaff (John Ahlin) decides to seduce two married women, Mistress Alice Ford (Tarah Flanagan) and Mistress Margaret Page (Stephanie Lambourn). Upon discovering that Falstaff has sent them both word-for-word identical love letters, the two “merry wives” conspire to lead him on in order to play various tricks on the lecherous knight. A comedy ensues, compounded when the husbands learn of Falstaff’s designs and of the wives’ apparent acceptance of his advances. Instead of the usual Elizabethan setting, this production at Cedar City’s Utah Shakespeare Festival brings the story forward to turn-of-the-century Great Britain.
John Ahlin (left) as Sir John Falstaff and Stephanie Lambourn as Mistress Margaret Page in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2018 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor.Ahlin delivers a worthy performance as the knavish Falstaff. Through animated facial expressions and physical comedy, Ahlin has the audience laughing out loud throughout. In a performance that reminded my wife and me of Peter Ustinov, Ahlin takes a simple task like picking up a towel and turns it into a comedy routine. This production is a voyage through ridiculousness, and Falstaff is the captain.
As the two mischievous wives, Flanagan and Lambourn add to the comedy. They successfully portray the two women as longtime best friends, incredibly in sync as they team up and scheme. At times their playacting in front of Falstaff may be a bit cheesy, but it is appropriate to the comedy and still earns laughter from the audience.
Another standout performer is Geoffrey Kent as the husband, Frank Ford. His scenes were perhaps my favorites of the night. When Ford meets with Falstaff in a ridiculously obvious disguise as a Scottish gentleman, Kent shows off a hilariously exaggerated Scottish brogue (perhaps a Craig Ferguson impersonation?).
Multiple actors shine in character roles. Leslie Brott is the longwinded housemaid Mistress Quickly. As the French physician Doctor Caius, Michael Elich provides another comic accent which leads to some surprisingly funny jokes. Lance Rasmussen, as the aptly named Abraham Slender, is lanky and lovably clueless and awkward.
Under director Paul Mason Barnes, this production of Merry Wives uniquely incorporates music. Turn-of-the-century standards like “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two),” “Moonlight Bay,” and “Shine On, Harvest Moon” are sung both during transitions and as plot points. Joplin-style piano music is also played during scene changes. While a few of the vocal numbers seem a bit shoehorned in and may slow the action of the play, overall I enjoyed this inclusion and thought it enhanced the unique time setting. Austin Glen Jacobs, Landon Tate Boyle, and Jim Poulos are a few of the talented vocalists lending voice to these numbers. Music direction is by Brandon Scott Grayson.
The gorgeous set designed by Apollo Mark Weaver includes two ornate gables and evokes the turn-of-the-century setting. The stage is full of flowers, and firefly lights pleasantly complete the look in the second act. Some cleverly engineered features, like a bar tap that pulls up out of a flower bed and a wall panel that rotates into a fireplace, allow for efficient scene changes. These changes are minimal and performed quickly by cast members. Bill Black’s costume design puts multiple characters in beautiful period clothing, further adding to the charm of the setting.
This production is unabashedly a comedy. Of course, spit takes are not cutting edge comic devices, but in a show like this they still make the audience laugh. When two characters meant to be boating enter the stage wearing a canoe on shoulder straps with their legs clearly showing beneath, you know that the Shakespeare Festival has the budget to create a more convincing canoe illusion, but the canoe on shoulder straps just works. I’ll be honest, when I attend a Shakespeare play, it makes me feel good about myself—like it makes me smarter and more cultured. With this show, you can have that and get some good laughs at the same time. In the end, Falstaff was able to laugh at himself and his absurdities; why shouldn’t we do the same? Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Merry Wives of Windsor brings us all we could want in a great comedy.
Note: running time for this show is close to three hours.
Utah Shakespeare Festival presents Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Engelstad Shakespeare Theater, 351 West Center Street, Cedar City, UT 84720
Select dates, June 28 – September 8, 2018 8:00 PM
Tickets: $24-75
Utah Shakespeare Festival Facebook Page
Merry Wives of Windsor Facebook Event
Matt Adams,
William Shakespeare,
John Ahlin,
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