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Seismic shifts in the theatrical meanings of The Merry Wives of Windsor have taken place across the centuries as Shakespeare's frequently performed play has relocated to Windsor across the world, journeying along the production/adaptation/appropriation continuum.
This (eco-)performance history of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor not only offers the first in-depth analysis of the play in production, with a particular focus on the representation of merry women, but also utilises the comedy's forest-aware dramaturgy to explore Mistress Page's concept of being 'frugal in my mirth' in relation to sustainable theatre practices. Herne's Oak - the fictitious tree in Windsor Forest where everyone meets in the final scene of the play - is utilised to enable a maverick but ecologically based reframing of the productions of Merry Wives analysed here.
This study engages with gender, physical comedy, and cultural relocations of Windsor across the world to offer new insight into Merry Wives and its theatricality.
List of contents
1. Shakespeare and (Eco-)Performance History: The Merry Wives of Windsor 2. 'A Most pleasaunt and excellent conceited Comedie': Early Performances of Merry Wives and the 1602 Quarto 3. 'Wives May Be Witty and Yet Honest Too' (4.2.96): Eliza Vestris and The Merry Wives of Windsor 4. 'The Truth Being Known' (4.4.62): Ellen Terry and The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1902 5. 'More of the Quarto Than is Usual': Terry Hands's Merry Wives, 1968, 1975, and 1995 6. 'The Fords and the Pages Were Obviously Tory Voters': Bill Alexander RSC, 1985, and 'Girls Hug' Rachel Kavanaugh RSC, 2002 7. Geoffrey Rush's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Brisbane, 1987 8. 'All Gold and Bounty' (1.3.65): Leila Hipólito's As Alegres Comadres, 2003 9. 'Merriness Unbridled': Christopher Luscombe's The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe, 2008, 2010 10. 'And nightly [. . .] Look you sing' (5.5.66): Richard Jones's Falstaff, Glyndebourne, 2009, 2013 11. 'Sir John Goes into the Basket': Physical Comedy in Wanawake Wa Heri wa Winsa, Shakespeare's Globe, London, 2012 12. Looking for Herne's Oak 13. The Epilogue
About the author
Elizabeth Schafer is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Summary
Seismic shifts in the theatrical meanings of The Merry Wives of Windsor have taken place across the centuries as Shakespeare’s frequently performed play has relocated to Windsor across the world, journeying along the production/adaptation/appropriation continuum.
This (eco-)performance history of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor not only offers the first in-depth analysis of the play in production, with a particular focus on the representation of merry women, but also utilises the comedy’s forest-aware dramaturgy to explore Mistress Page’s concept of being ‘frugal in my mirth’ in relation to sustainable theatre practices. Herne’s Oak – the fictitious tree in Windsor Forest where everyone meets in the final scene of the play – is utilised to enable a maverick but ecologically based reframing of the productions of Merry Wives analysed here.
This study engages with gender, physical comedy, and cultural relocations of Windsor across the world to offer new insight into Merry Wives and its theatricality.
