Great Lakes Theater's Production of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' Lacks the Merry

The comedies written by William Shakespeare are, as you know, often frolicsome and delightful affairs, with plenty of naughty stuff (for the 17th century), mistaken identities and wordplay.

However, when comedies go wrong it's not a pleasurable experience, and such is the case with The Merry Wives of Windsor now at the Great Lakes Theater. This production as directed by Terri McMahon is actually a rather grim business, in large part due to a Falstaff that falls far short of what is required.

For those of you who might be confusing this show with "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," this is the one where two wives, Mrs. Page (Jodi Dominick) and Mrs. Ford (Jessie Cope Miller), learn they are being pursued by the same local horndog, Sir John Falstaff (Daniel T. Parker), and set off to turn the tables on him.

After Falstaff sends each of the wives an identical love note, filling in the blanks where their names go, Falstaff's servants Pistol (Jerrell Williams) and Nym (Mailik Bilbrew) tattle on their boss to the ladies' husbands. Mr. Page (Jason Eno) is cool with it all, but Mr. Ford (Jeffrey C. Hawkins) is enraged. Ford decides to disguise himself as a "Master Brook" so he can meet Falstaff and scope the situation out.

As in all Shakespeare plays there is also at least one subplot, this one involving Page's daughter Anne (Kechanté), who her parents want to marry off to different men. Mr. Page prefers she wed Abraham Slender (Josh Houghton), a wealthy local fool, while Mrs. P. wants her to marry Dr. Caius (Anthony Michael Martinez), a French physician. As for Anne herself, she has her cap set for young Master Fenton (Williams doubling).

Then a Welsh parson Hugh Evans (Nick Steen) sticks his nose in, trying to tip the scales in favor of the Slender man, which almost leads to a duel. Anyhow, Evans and Caius eventually decide to conspire together and the stage is set for comedy!

Except in this instance, not so much. For obvious reasons, this play revolves around the character of Falstaff, a larger-than-life fellow who boasts of many disagreeable traits all in one XXL package. Those include but are not limited to being old, corrupt, boastful and a gold-plated, booze-swilling lech. Also, Falstaff is fat—both in the morbidly obese sense and in the jolly, bowlful-of-jelly sense. That combination is usually a fount of comedy gold.

But to make it work, the actor playing Falstaff must have a vast supply of charm and salacious wit, making his character lovable and not just creepy. In this production, Parker falls short in that task, primarily because his Falstaff is shallow—all shtick and no soul. He never disappears into the character, so his lechery less than amusing a bit unsettling.

There even a lame gag, Scotch-taped onto the script, when Falstaff "drops character" to supposedly respond to a cell phone ringing in the audience. It lands with a thud since Parker has created no character to drop out of.

The rest of the cast turns in professional performances, with some exceptions. Martinez and Steen's respective French and Welsh accents are largely indecipherable. Martinez tries and fails to capture the unique phonology Peter Sellers employed with his fake French accent as Inspector Clouseau in "The Pink Panther" movies. And when Martinez and Steen speak to each other, it's like stuffing a word salad into a Cuisinart and hitting "purée." Also, the young actors portraying Anne and Fenton need to strengthen their vocal and stage presences for their characters to pop.

Even the scenic design by the usually reliable Jeff Herrmann is a letdown, consisting of five skeletal set pieces that are shoved around to suggest houses in the town. But when they're pushed together, as they often are, they mostly just look like a clumsy lumber display at Home Depot.

All that said, there are some laughs to be had in this Wives, thanks to the script that is in many ways foolproof, as is the physical humor. But overall, the merriment is less merry than it might be.

The Merry Wives of Windsor
Through April 7 at Great Lakes Theater, Hanna Theatre, Playhouse Square, 2067 E. 14th Street, 216-241-6000, greatlakestheater.org.

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