The plays of Will Shakespeare seem to be the primary target of this sort of exploration, and one indication of how well it works is when you hear his original words and speech patterns coming out of the mouths of today’s actors in a setting of perhaps 50 years ago. When this whole apparatus makes sense, it can only be a hit. ‘A palpable hit’ in fact, to borrow a few words from old Will.
Great Lakes Theater Festival began its summer rep season at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square Center on Saturday night with the latest in a string of marvelously imaginative, fast-paced renditions of Shakespeare plays. The director of record for Merry Wives of Windsor is Sari Ketter, but the influence of Charles Fee (Producing Artistic Director) is evident, as well, in the general wackiness of the action and the wonderful 50s music that is everywhere throughout.
You may not catch everything as it goes flying past you, but you won’t be bored, either. Not for one second. The set, designed by Russell Metheny, immediately takes you back to that cheerful Eisenhower era when there was always a Howard Johnson Motel just ahead. Most of the real motels didn’t look as spiffy and bright as this one in Windsor, Connecticut, however, or they’d still be around. Costumes by B. Modern are wonderfully evocative of that era, and so cheerfully ebullient you may wish you’d brought your sunglasses in with you. A special commendation is due Sound designer Tom Mardikes. For once, the sound didn’t blast you out of your seat! Lighting by Rick Martin added atmosphere in addition to illumination.
But it is the players, after all, who really light up the theater. This batch is incandescent!
Paul Kiernan as Sir John Falstaff, the rotund centerpiece, is amazing as he prances around on and off the stage, doing pratfalls galore, running up the aisles with all his heft and never seeming to get out of breath in the process. The cabana suit (loud and flowery) that he wears in the first act is vaguely reminiscent of maternity outfits of the 50s. However, one usually didn’t see them on men, even if they did possess a basketball sort of belly.
He’s a great straight man to the Master Ford (or the occasional Master Brook) of Andrew May. The first time he blithely steps into the small pool is hilarious. Incredibly enough, it’s just as funny the fifth or sixth time! His visits to Falstaff in the guise of Master Brook, trying to assist the knight in attempting to seduce Ford’s wife in a test of her loyalty, are full of nervous mannerisms, with sometimes uproarious results.
Having been banished to Windsor, ever amorous but having a pinched purse, Falstaff decides to seduce two local, wealthy ladies: Lynn Allison, the lovely Mistress Ford, and the more lively Mistress Page of Kathryn Cherasaro, who, among other mad-cap actions, swings a mean hula hoop. Since both ladies love only their own husbands, they eagerly set about the downfall of Sir John. And what a hilarious downfall it is.
The ladies, of course, have their own conniving assistant, the delicious Nina Domingue, who apparently moved east to Windsor from Brooklyn NY. She carries messages back and forth, being always careful to collect her tips from both sender and receiver. George Roth as Master Page does well at staying out of the way of all the madness that surrounds him.
It is the Page’s daughter Anne (Elizabeth A. Davis), who provides the sub-plot, in the attempted matches proposed by her parents. Father supports the cause of Slender (the well cast Jeff Cribbs) while Mother favors Dr. Caius (Marc Moritz with a hilariously wonderful faux French accent that sometimes gets away from him). Neither of them reckons with the young lady’s choice, Master Fenton, and as played by Nick Koesters in Elvis mode, it's easy to understand her choice.
Scott Plate as the roguish Host of the Garter Inn; and Dudley Swetland as Justice Shallow stand out, as does Wayne S. Turney as Bardolph in a zoot suit. Patio furniture was quickly and sometimes dancingly moved around by a crew of resort personnel garbed in appropriate HoJo colors.
Falstaff gets dumped in the river with the soiled laundry, then, hastily costumed as an elderly lady is soundly thumped by the irate Master Ford, before being chased around during the midnight rendezvous in the forest. Amid the fairies and goblins the Fords and the Pages are reunited with each other, and Anne gets her Master Fenton. Sir John is left to plan his next adventure.
This Garter Resort is so inviting, I wouldn’t mind a return visit. See for yourself at the Ohio Theatre until August 13, when another zany comedy — You Can’t Take it With You — takes the stage to alternate in repertory until September 3. For tickets to either of these productions or the Fall Rep, (or other information) visit the web-site: http://www.greatlakestheater.org or call (216) 241-6000. From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz ArtsWriterATAdelphiadotnet
(:divend:)