Who would have thought Shakespeare was such a great sitcom writer? The Bard's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" contains hilarious elements that can be found in beloved episodes of "The Honeymooners" or "I Love Lucy." The Shakespeare's Globe Theatre touring production, alighting at Pace University's Schimmel Center for too brief a stay after a hit run in England, perfectly balances low farce with high language.
According to theatrical legend, the play was written when Queen Elizabeth I expressed a desire to see Sir John Falstaff, the voluminous braggart of "Henry IV," in love. Shakespeare responded with a rollicking romp featuring Sir John pursuing two sly housewives, who torment the vainglorious knight with devices of their own. Recent productions have shifted the setting to the Wild West, contemporary suburbia, and, in the misbegotten musical "Lone Star Love," post–Civil War Texas. But director Christopher Luscombe keeps the milieu Elizabethan and focuses on the play's comic archetypes rather than attempting to reinterpret them. Janet Bird's elegantly simple set, re-creating the Globe itself, and her simply elegant costumes transport us to the London of the period with minimal fuss. Nigel Hess' melodious and mood-setting score, played by a five-piece band that's cleverly integrated into the action, adds to the proper atmosphere. Luscombe wisely concentrates on the characters' motivations rather than their slapstick antics, treating us to a comedy of action and reaction rather than a gallery of buffoons mugging for the audience.
Christopher Benjamin, as Falstaff, could easily have given us a W.C. Fields knockoff, but the actor flavors the character's self-importance with a charismatic jollity. This is a guy with whom you'd love to quaff a few brews. Listening to Benjamin is a joy as well. How he savors Falstaff's blunt descriptions of eggs ("pullet-sperm") and the smell of dirty laundry is worth the price of admission. Likewise, Andrew Havill's Frank Ford, the jealous husband of one of Sir John's targets, is neither a green-eyed monster nor an Othello played for laughs. He's a man genuinely in love with his wife who has allowed his insecurities to get the better of him.
As the jocular spouses of the title, Sarah Woodward (Mistress Ford) and Serena Evans (Mistress Page) are delightfully dry and scintillatingly saucy. They know just when to pour on the exaggerated comic shtick—as when they pretend to be frightened of being caught with Sir John—and when to subtly emphasize a laugh by nonchalantly tossing off a punch line or lifting an eyebrow. As George Page, Michael Garner is not given as much comic opportunity, but he turns in a solid performance.
The supporting dramatis personae feature a veritable galaxy of comic archetypes, but the strong cast gives each one a distinct personality. Will Belchambers endows the foppish Slender with a sweet nature and underplays the choice to make the character gay. Gregory Gudgeon and Paul Woodson double as Falstaff's followers and Ford's servants, creating four distinct and strongly defined underlings. I also enjoyed Philip Bird's Dr. Caius, Sue Wallace's Mistress Quickly, Jonty Stephens' inn host, Peter Gale's Shallow, and Gareth Armstrong's Sir Hugh Evans.
Presented by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University, 3 Spruce St., NYC. Oct. 31–Nov. 7. Tue.–Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Wed. and Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.pace.edu./culture.
