The 2008 company of players is performing, in repertory, three of Shakespeare's works over the Summer in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. This season features: "Romeo & Juliet", arguably the greatest tragic love story in the English speaking world, "All's Well That Ends Well", the story of Helena and Bertram and the testing of a lover's resolve, a testament to tenacity during a time when women were to be seen and not heard, and "The Merry Wives of Windsor", the Bard's paeon to bawdiness, bluster, and the romantic misadventures of his favorite comic character, Sir John Falstaff.
Repertory productions are unique in that they feature actors playing a minor role in one play and then performing as the star character in another. The convention is rewarding for the actors and gratifying for the audience. Case in point, Heather Wood plays Juliet, and then a saloon girl in "Merry Wives". Eric Hoffman plays a merchant in "All's Well", and the lead Sir John Falstaff, in "Merry Wives".
Of the three productions currently on view at the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, "The Merry Wives of Windsor", deftly directed with style and flair by Paul Mullins, is the lightest and the most fun for the audience. Elizabethan English theatre was the "people's choice awards" of it's day. It was often rowdy and sometimes randy. If the actors failed to please, they had to dodge objects hurled at the stage. Acting, as a profession during the Bard's time, easily qualified one for hazardous duty pay.
Mullins, in updating the production, moves his cast into an 1880's American Western setting complete with Saloon, dancing girls, and assorted town characters. Part of the fun and enjoyment is listening to that great Shakespearean dialogue coming out the mouths of rough and ready types and never doubting or misunderstanding for a minute what is being said. As a friend confided to me, "Don't miss it, the production's a hoot !"
Eric Hoffman as Sir John Falstaff, plays him as a puffed-up peacock with amorous intentions toward every female who comes within his view. His bluster and braggadacio is full of the sound and fury of comic sexual conquest but always falls just short of victory. Hoffman, however, does his likeable roue portrayal with energy and gusto.
Providing able support are three actors who also know how to talk the talk and walk the walk of farce. Bruce Turk, as the husband of one of the wives Falstaff takes a liking to, is especially adroit in the role of Frank Ford. His timing and moves are classic farce. Katie MacNichol as Mistress Ford, and Celeste Ciulla as Mistress Page, are more than a match for the on-stage shenannigans of Hoffman's Falstaff. And Wynn Harmon, as the French doctor, is another actor who knows his way around a farcical scene when he finds himself in one. As a matter of fact the entire company is a delight to watch. If you go, bring a jacket or a shawl as the night air can be a bit nippy in Balboa Park in September.
On one hand this production may not be your definitive Shakespearean vehicle but on the other hand - loosely paraphrasing Cole Porter - it sure is a fun way to "brush up your Shakespeare". "The Merry Wives of Windsor", "Romeo & Juliet", and "All's Well That Ends Well" perform in rep until September 28th. Contact the Box Office at http://www.theoldglobe.org/
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