Verrrrrry interrrrrresting. Capital Classics’ Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” served up on the lawn of the University of St. Joseph through July 28, appears to be channeling the “Laugh-In” a comedy hit of half a century ago.
The set resembles the TV show’s brightly colored multi-windowed Joke Wall. The characters are designed by funny voices, colorful jackets or big hats. Jokes are followed by exaggerated reactions. An actual slapstick — a wooden paddle designed to make maximum noise when it hits somebody’s posterior — is used. The sight gags are incessant.
Somehow, the 1960s variety-show stylings seem more outdated than the 16th century silliness of Shakespeare. But the show remains an amusing battle-of-the-sexes diversion based on the old tropes of oblivious self-important dim-bulb men and their much smarter wives.
With “Merry Wives,” Connecticut has gone full Falstaff. The rotund scoundrel appeared in three Shakespeare plays and is given a splendid eulogy in a fourth. All have been found on local stages in recent months. Hartford Stage did “Henry V” (the eulogy one) in October. Connecticut Repertory Theatre ended the UConn school year with a double feature of “Henry IV Part One” and “Henry IV Part Two.”
Capital Classics takes an interesting tack with this grand, hard-drinking, delusional fool. While plenty of the other folks in this production are cartoonish stereotypes, Falstaff is comparatively underplayed. Yes, Nick Roesler (a Glastonbury resident and adjunct professor in the Connecticut College theater department) has stuffed his shirt to suggest Falstaff’s prodigious belly, but his short trimmed beard is his own, not the scraggly facial clump of hair usually associated with the character. Roesler doesn’t go in for pratfalls or silly voices. He’s just a big dumb lug who thinks he’s in control when he isn’t.
It’s a nice, friendly, down-to-earth portrayal but at odds with everyone else in the cast, who create characters through silly walks and funny accents and goofy expressions.
Mistress Quickly, the brassy innkeeper who appears in all the same plays that Falstaff does, is played by the treasured local performer Debra Walsh (a regular not just with Capital Classics by HartBeat Ensemble and Bated Breath Theatre). Her style is broader than Roesler’s but has an inner balance. Unlike most of the other cast, she doesn’t go too far. She brings poise and charm to a woman usually degraded as a “wench.”
Despite their popularity, neither Falstaff nor Mistress Quickly are the stars of any of these shows. Falstaff sets the plot in motion for “Merry Wives,” but doesn’t get the most lines or most stage time. The plot revolves mostly around the titular wives (bright-eyed Laura Sheehan as Mistress Page and the more demure Tonille Watkis as Mistress Ford) and their boorish, buffoonish husbands (Mark Dean as a sputtering Master Ford and Rick Malone as a party-hearty Master Page who at times seems more Falstaffian than Roesler’s Falstaff.)
There’s also, naturally, a couple of young lovers — Megan Gwynn giving a ditzy girl voice to Anne Page; Christopher Rowe playing it straight as her upstanding suitor Fenton — who are being kept apart by their elders. Plot twists rely on such unsavory social customs as arranged marriages, duels, and old-money social status. Dim-witted servants abound.
One thing Capital Classics always does well: The text is cleanly and clearly delivered. The plot is easy is to follow, and just in case there’s an extensive two-page synopsis in the program. The company works without microphones, on a simple large platform close to the audience. Incidental music performed by the esteemed local composer, percussionist and educator Jeff McQuillan (of the world music band Mikata) channels a hummable theme tune through a keyboard and kazoo.
A running time of three hours (plus a 15-minute intermission) is pushing the limits for outdoor Shakespeare, and is unconscionable for light comedy. There’s a lot of repetition in the play, as rather simple revenge schemes get outlined numerous times and multiple different characters respond with long speeches. Capital Classics chooses not to cut these recaps and reactions, then adds myriad little jokes — several chases around a table, several interactions with the audience (“What time is it?”), lots of dancing and kicking up of heels, much rolling of eyes.
“The Merry Wives of Windsor” demands a lot of patience, but also delivers a lot of chuckles. It’s an opportunity to see a Shakespeare comedy that doesn’t come up often enough and a chance to see what Falstaff is like when not mentoring future kings on blood-soaked battlefields.
One thing that makes it all worthwhile: the mid-show spectacle of the moon brightening the sky behind the stage as the show’ natural outdoor lighting shifts from early evening haze to warm darkness. It’s a merry night on the grass.
The MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR by Capital Classics runs through July 28 on the grounds of the University of St. Joseph, 1678 Asylum Ave., West Hartford. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $18, $12 for students and seniors. 860-231-5555, capitalclassics.org.
Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.
