WRITTEN BY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BRANDON ZANG ON THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
THE ROLE OF COMEDY IN THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
In creating the world of The Merry Wives of Windsor, director Terri McMahon and I wanted to start from a place of love. Knowing that we are presenting this play to a world that’s only beginning to emerge from isolation, we wanted to highlight the importance of community and the inevitable joy that comes from inclusion and celebration. Though the play is often considered the most farcical piece of Shakespeare’s repertoire, we knew that there was something more meaningful – and perhaps timely – to all the hilarity.
Aristotle famously characterizes comedy as “an imitation of characters of a lower type… [that] consists in some defect or ugliness,” since he believed that humor comes from the worst aspects of people. Perhaps this is evident in the script of The Merry Wives of Windsor; we see an outsider who is mocked for his transgressions and affinity for sin. But when Terri and I read through the script, we saw a different perspective: instead of a story about deserved punishment, maybe Merry Wives is about forgiveness. Could the town accept Falstaff as one of their own at the end? Does he bring something to the community that wasn’t there before? Can humor come from people being good?
THE ROLE OF DANCE IN THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
Our first foray into our vision was through the language of dance. Throughout history, dance has always been a way of celebrating community. Dance can be spontaneous, choreographed, improvised, or devised. It is constantly in flux, changing with each generation that inherits the ritual, and it is a movement language that defies the literal and embraces the abstract nature of interpersonal relationships. And most importantly, it invites all to participate. When we see the town practicing for a dance at the beginning of the play, it represents a commitment that each individual makes to the greater whole, even if some people (ahem, Ford) are not particularly good dancers. Additionally, we wanted the dance at the beginning to feel rigid and rehearsed, because all rituals, even those that are founded in spontaneous celebration, become bound by our notion of tradition. Windsor is a town that is stuck in its ways, with unwavering beliefs and societal roles that are rigid, just like the dance. This is a town that was not ready for a person like Sir John Falstaff, who shakes everything up with his disregard for convention. The payoff then becomes the dance at the very end, where the characters feel empowered to break the rules and reveal their true self, and in doing so, strengthen their love for each other. After all, it is our differences that make our communities better.
THE WORLD OF THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
We also wanted to step away from setting the story in a specific period and place. Though written long ago, Merry Wives in 2023 should feel fresh and relatable for a modern audience. That’s why our design choices – everything from soundbites to shoelaces – are influenced by a variety of forms across history. The music, composed by the brilliant Sartje Pickett, blends elements of jazz, hip hop, and classical to create a sense of an underlying rhythm and rhyme. Each character has their own set of movements, inspired by dances from a plethora of cultures and choreographed by the amazing Brian Cowing, all to illustrate their indomitable individualities. Susan Tsu’s intricate costumes are inspired from all periods, and take a surprising turn when we get to Herne’s Oak (more on that later). Perhaps the most visually striking of all is the set, adorned in bold neon colors and centerpieced with a beautifully crafted statue of a hot pink stag, standing erect on a pillar. Designed by Scott Penner, the set is meant to evoke a sense of pop art and minimalist anachronism (what’s up with the giant boombox?) the moment the audience walks in. Even in our earliest production meetings, we were committed to the idea that Windsor is not just a rural town in 16th century England. Instead, Windsor should invoke all communities everywhere: from Spring Green, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois to the whole country of America. There is a reason that Shakespeare continues to get produced today, and we wanted to home in on the story’s timeless universality.
THE SYMBOLISM OF DISGUISE IN THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR
We also brought in a lot of symbolism and metaphor into our staging. In creating our concept of Herne’s Oak, Terri and I were deeply inspired by pagan rituals and borrowed from their philosophy to create a completely different world. We learned that fire is a symbol of renewal, not destruction, and so Falstaff is burned by the ghostly flame to mark his rebirth as a member of the community. Many characters hide behind animal masks, cementing their relationship to nature and thus connecting to their true selves as fellow altruistic humans, despite their urban origins. In fact, we saw disguise as an essential element of the story; for instance, Falstaff disguises his true intentions, and as payback, he is disguised by the wives as the dance teacher of Brentford. Mr. Ford disguises himself as Mr. Brook, yet finds genuine connection with Falstaff in their moments together. False identity is not only a device of deception, but a portal for characters to reveal and discover their truths. Herne’s Oak, then, is the epitome of disguise in the play, where everyone, including Falstaff, finds themselves in ridiculously outlandish costumes to inhabit a different world. But as the prank unfolds, true love emerges when Anne and Fenton declare themselves as a couple, disguised against all the disguises deceptively set into place by the Pages. By working with designers to create the haunting, strange, and often beautiful world of Herne’s Oak, we set the stage for big revelations and conclusions, all while the characters posed as woodland creatures and ghastly spirits.
THE RELATIONSHIPS IN WINDSOR
In the rehearsal room, we tackled the daunting task of deciphering the complicated relationships between Windsor’s residents. With the help of our wonderful voice and text coach Sara Becker, whose wealth of knowledge led us through the cryptic waters of Shakespearean text, we ensured that everything was intentional and precise. We had to answer the many questions the story left for us; for instance, how stable is the Fords’ marriage? What are the wives risking by hatching their plans? What happens after Herne’s Oak and everyone has reconciled with each other? The stakes had to be clear: though the pranks are elaborate, they are ultimately harmless. After all, it wouldn’t be much of a community if everyone is out to really get each other!
Like most Shakespeare plays, we can pull relevant and important lessons from The Merry Wives of Windsor. For us, this story is all about finding community. Despite accessible communication and social media, it is so easy to feel lonely and isolated in today’s world. Sometimes we forget that humans are social creatures who crave – and need – the company of each other. Kindness is not only a building block of our civilization, but an evolutionary trait that runs in our genes. It is with this knowledge that we bring forth our interpretation of The Merry Wives of Windsor, a modern comedy imbued with a gentle reminder that inclusion, patience, and grace are essential to our society, and that forgiveness is always a virtue. That after all our misunderstandings and accusations, we can learn to come together around a bonfire and celebrate each other for who we are.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the end of the day, it’s good fun to laugh at Falstaff for his appearance, his misjudgments, and his self-proclaimed brilliance. But the more memorable kind of laughter comes from joyous celebration, and that is the laughter, we hope, that takes over at the end of the play when the town forgives Falstaff, and in true Windsor spirit, teaches him the dance of community, compromise, and jolly good company.