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The Merry Wives of Windsor

July 30 – September 3, 2023
(Opening night: Saturday, August 5)

Lowell Davies Festival Theatre

By William Shakespeare
Directed by James Vásquez

Shakespeare meets “I Love Lucy” in this 1950s spin on one of the Bard’s wildest and most appealing comedies. The notorious John Falstaff, larger-than-life in every way, leaves the big city to work his charms on the suburban inhabitants of Windsor. Always hustling for his next buck, he sets his sights on two of Windsor’s ladies-who-lunch, but when they figure out Falstaff’s game, they decide to teach him a lesson he won’t forget. Under the direction of Globe Resident Artist James Vásquez, mistaken identities, romance, and an unforgettable gallery of Shakespeare’s most vivid characters fill the stage for a theatrical rollercoaster ride that’s raucous, kooky, and entirely bewitching.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is supported by major production sponsors The James Silberrad Brown Foundation at the San Diego Foundation, Karen and Donald Cohn, Ann Davies, Darlene Marcos Shiley, and The Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Fund; production sponsors Diane Berol in memory of John Berol and Jeannie Polinsky Rivkin Artistic Fund.

Total running time: Two hours and 20 minutes (two acts with one intermission).

Digital Program

Download the Program PDF

This production includes brief moments of flashing lights and light haze.

Vicki and Carl Zeiger Insights Seminar: Tuesday, August 1 at 7:00 p.m.

Post Show Forum: Tuesday, August 8; Tuesday, August 15; and Wednesday, August 23.

Reviews

“Every summer The Old Globe presents a Shakespeare comedy suited for all ages, and this visually stunning Merry Wives fits the bill.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Lighthearted and fast on its feet. The Old Globe looks to have a hit on its hands.” —Talkin’ Broadway

“A rousing success!” —On the Craft

Cast and Creatives

Cast

Creative

James Vásquez (Director) The Old Globe: Resident Artist; Under a Baseball Sky, Hair, American Mariachi (world premiere), Hurricane Diane, Tiny Beautiful Things, Rich Girl (West Coast premieres), The Rocky Horror Show, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Regional: Cabaret (Goodspeed Musicals), Damn Yankees (Marriott Theatre), American Mariachi (Denver Center Theatre Co.), In the Heights (Dallas Theater Center, Moonlight Stage Productions), Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (associate director, Children’s Theatre Co.), West Side Story, Cats (SD Musical Theatre), Pageant, Hedwig... (Cygnet Theatre Co.), Next Fall, Pippin (Diversionary Theatre). Education: The Juilliard School, Drama Division. jamesvasquez.com.

Diggle (Scenic Design) (he/him/his) Proud Gay Mexican designer with Indigenous Mexica (Aztec) roots. Selected credits: The Harder They Come (Public Theater), Cowboy Bob (Alley Theatre, NAMT), Hair, Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really (Portland Center Stage), Gruesome Playground Injuries (St. Louis Rep), Fires in the Mirror (Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre), Shakespeare: Call and Response (Public’s Mobile Unit), The Conversationalists (Bushwick Starr), Decky Does a Bronco (Royal Family Productions), Red Emma and the Mad Monk (Tank, ANT Fest), Electra, Fade (DTC). diggledesigns.com.

Lex Liang (Costume Design) The Old Globe: debut. Off Broadway: more than 50 productions; Judy Gold’s Yes, I Can Say That! directed by BD Wong (Primary Stages), Penelope, or How the Odyssey Was Really Written, Antigone, 9 Circles, The Bacchae. Selected regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alliance Theatre, Asolo Rep, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center, Geva, Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Woolly Mammoth. Other: founder/owner of LDC Design Associates, an experiential event design and production company in New York City. Recent projects: A&E, Absolut, Operation Smile, Invesco, Tony Awards Gala, New York Fashion Week, New York City Wine & Food Festival, William Hill Winery. lexliang.com, @lex924 on Instagram.

Mextly Couzin (Lighting Design) Mexican lighting designer based in New York and Los Angeles. The Old Globe: El Borracho, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet (assistant lighting designer). Broadway: Camelot, Birthday Candles (associate lighting designer). Off Broadway/New York: Straight Line Crazy (The Shed), Peerless (Primary Stages), 53% Of (Second Stage), Tambo and Bones (Playwrights Horizons), Which Way to the Stage? (MCC). Regional: Opera Parallèle, The Kennedy Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego Symphony, Malashock Dance. Education:M.F.A.from UC San Diego (2020). mextlycouzin.com.

Melanie Chen Cole (Sound Design) (she/her) The Old Globe: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Noura, Tiny Beautiful Things, The Imaginary Invalid. Regional theatre: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Indiana Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Northern Stage, PlayMakers Rep, South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Education: M.F.A. in Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego. melaniesound.com, @melaniechencole.

Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach) The Old Globe: Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, more. Other: Head of the M.F.A. Acting program at UC San Diego, Chair of the Mentorship Committee for Voice and Speech Trainers Association, over 35 years of teaching voice and coaching Shakespeare, TEDx’s “Shakespeare Plays with Words.” Education: graduated with distinction from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, designated Linklater teacher. Professional credits: La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Yale Rep, Guthrie, Shakespeare Theatre Company, 16 seasons with Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Awards: UCSD Distinguished Teaching Award, Anti-Racist Changemaker Fellow.

Tara Rubin Casting (Casting) The Old Globe: Twelfth Night, Dancin’, Scrooge, Despereaux, Gods of Comedy, Life After, Heart of Rock & Roll, Much Ado, Tempest, Guys and Dolls, Othello, Two Gentlemen, Dog and Pony, Room with a View, others. Selected Broadway: Back to the Future, Here Lies Love, Bad Cinderella, Dancin’, KPOP, Mr. Saturday Night, Six, Ain’t Too Proud, Band’s Visit, Sunset Boulevard, Dear Evan Hansen, Cats, Falsettos, School of Rock, Aladdin, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Spamalot, Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, Phantom of the Opera. Selected Off Broadway: Sing Street, Trevor, Between the Lines, Gloria: A Life. Film: Here Today.

Chandra R.M. Anthenill (Production Stage Manager) (she/her/hers) The Old Globe: Exotic Deadly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Trouble in Mind, Krapp’s Last Tape, What You Are, Tiny Beautiful Things, Globe for All (2017–2022), Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Guys and Dolls, Camp David, The Comedy of Errors. Regional: The Garden, 2020 POP Tour, Junk (La Jolla Playhouse), Fun Home, Beachtown, Roz and Ray, Into the Beautiful North, Outside Mullingar, The Oldest Boy, Oedipus El Rey, Honky (San Diego Rep), El Huracán, Mud Row, The Last Wife, Bad Jews, Sons of the Prophet, True West, Fool for Love, Spring Awakening, Assassins, Company (Cygnet), Pippin (Diversionary).

Sam Allen (Assistant Stage Manager) (he/him/his) The Old Globe: debut. Regional: Animals Out of Paper, Flowers of Hawaii (Chautauqua Theater Company), #SLACabaret (Salt Lake Acting Company), Cherry Wine in Paper Cups (Sackerson Theatre), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (West Valley Performing Arts), The Audacity, Where Are You From?, Flora Meets a Bee, P.G. ANON, (Plan-B Theatre), Prometheus Bound, Women of Trachis (Classical Greek Theatre Festival). Education: B.F.A. in Stage Management and Directing (Westminster College), M.F.A. in Stage Management from University of California, Irvine.

Kendra Stockton (Stage Management Swing) The Old Globe: The XIXth, Come Fall in Love, The Taming of the Shrew, Trouble in Mind, Hair, Almost Famous, As You Like It, The Gods of Comedy, Familiar, Clint Black’s Looking for Christmas, Much Ado About Nothing, Benny & Joon, October Sky, Bright Star, Dog and Pony, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (as production assistant). Regional: House of Joy (San Diego Rep), Home of the Brave, #SuperShinySara, Guards at the Taj, The Orphan of Zhao, The Who & The What (La Jolla Playhouse), The Loneliest Girl in the World (Diversionary Theatre), miXtape (Lamb’s Players Theatre), White Christmas (San Diego Musical Theatre).

Photos

Production Photos

(clockwise from left) Jenn Harris as Mrs. Quickly, Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page, Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Old Globe. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(clockwise from left) Jenn Harris as Mrs. Quickly, Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page, Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Old Globe. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Carter Piggee as Robin, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, Madeline Grace Jones as Pistol, and Bernadette Sefic as Nym in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Carter Piggee as Robin, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, Madeline Grace Jones as Pistol, and Bernadette Sefic as Nym in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Emma Svitil as Simple, Jesse J. Perez as Dr. Caius, and Jenn Harris as Mrs. Quickly in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Emma Svitil as Simple, Jesse J. Perez as Dr. Caius, and Jenn Harris as Mrs. Quickly in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
The cast of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
The cast of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Jeffrey Rashad as Slender and Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Jeffrey Rashad as Slender and Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford, Dion Mucciacito as Ford, Matt McGrath as Sir Hugh Evans, Cornell Womack as Page, and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford, Dion Mucciacito as Ford, Matt McGrath as Sir Hugh Evans, Cornell Womack as Page, and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Jose Balistrieri as Fenton and Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Jose Balistrieri as Fenton and Camilla Hsieh as Anne Page in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Rich Soublet II.

Publicity Photos

(from left) Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford, Tom McGowan as Falstaff, and Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Tom McGowan as Falstaff, Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford Page in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Tom McGowan as Falstaff, Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page, and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford Page in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
(from left) Ruibo Qian as Mrs. Page and Angela Pierce as Mrs. Ford in The Old Globe’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2023. Photo by Rich Soublet II.
Director James Vásquez.
Director James Vásquez.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Artwork courtesy of The Old Globe.
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