[NEohioPAL]Berko Review: MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR at Actors' Summit

[Roy Berko]

THE SILVERS HAVE A MERRY TIME AT ACTOR’S SUMMIT

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

William Shakespeare was the most influential writer in
all of English literature and certainly the most
important playwright of the English Renaissance.  Born
in  1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in
Warwickshire, England he died in 1616 at the age of
fifty-two.  His legacy is a stable of comedies, farces
tragedies, historical plays and poetry that are
produced and reproduced by theatres the world over.

One of his most farcical scripts is ‘THE MERRY WIVES
OF WINDSOR. The play's comic intrigues create a jovial
tone.  But, as with many of his plays, ‘THE MERRY
WIVES OF WINDSOR’ carries a social message   The title
of the play declares the primacy of the women's roles:
the play is literally the story of the two merry wives
and, against the thoughts of his day, how they
manipulate the men in their lives.

The plot surrounds the playful but virtuous behavior
of the title characters, Mistress Page and Mistress
Ford, who are married to two prosperous men of
Windsor.  The wives set out to dupe the sexually
predatory Falstaff while curing Ford of his jealousy. 
Meanwhile, the Pages' daughter, Anne Page, wooed by
Fenton, a man of higher birth but less money.   This
creates Shakespeare’s other message:   romantic love
as a kind of social assimilator, transcending class
and enabling individuals to create new and inclusive
social categories around their romantic relationships.

Shakespeare is noted for his clever use of words and
rhyming patterns.  Interestingly, this play makes use
of far more prose than any other of his plays.  It is
filled with proverbs and clichés.

For a production of ‘MERRY WIVES’ to be successful, at
lease six major characters have to be excellent…the
two wives, their husbands, Falstaff and Miss Quickly. 
 Fortunately, in the Actors’ Summit production all of
these roles are adeptly acted, thus insuring a happy
theatrical experience.

As Mistresses Ford and Page, Sally Groth and Rebecca
Knab are delightful.  They scheme and the plot and are
completely believable.   Tom Stephan as Master Page
and Andrew Narten as Master Ford are fine.  Narten is
especially fine in the scenes where he becomes
hyper-hysterical when he thinks his wife is having an
affair with a gentleman caller.

Reuben Silver, as Falstaff, the lecherous curmudgeon,
is character perfect.  He delights!  Dorothy Silver,
the other half of Cleveland’s first acting family, is
obviously having a ball playing the interfering Miss
Quickly.   

Unfortunately, some of the other cast members don’t do
as well.  In the role of the suitors for the hand of
Anne Page, Jeff Nichols as the Frenchman Doctor Caius,
overdoes his accent and is entirely too fey and Aaron
Coleman, as Slender looks the part, but never quite
develops a believable characterization.  

Director Neil Thackaberry has wisely chosen to put
aside English accents, and has the cast speaking clear
General American English.

CAPUSLE JUDGEMENT:  Shakespeare is difficult to
perform, especially for Americans who often can’t
identify with either his message or intricate
language.  The Actors’ Summit production of ‘THE MERRY
WIVES OF WINDSOR,’ while it does not have the polish
of a professional production, is quite creditable and
worth seeing. 

‘THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR’ plays through April 25 at
Actors’ Summit’s intimate theatre-in-the-three-quarter
round.  For tickets call 330-342-0800 or visit on-line
to actorssummit.org.  Their next production will be
Ken Ludwig’s farce ‘LEND ME A TENOR’ from May 6
through the 23rd.



	
		
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