The Merry Wives of Windsor
Q&A: Jacob Ming-Trent on Falstaff, Bottom, and Shakespeare’s comedy
Jacob Ming-Trent shares a favorite moment from his Shakespeare in the Park performance as Falstaff in “Merry Wives,” which premieres on PBS’s Great Performances May 20.
Folger Finds: A carved oak casket for holding a Shakespeare First Folio
Casket, carved in an Elizabethan style 1866.Imagine buying a book and having the queen of England give you a special case in which to store it! That’s what happened after wealthy heiress Angela Burdett-Coutts purchased a Shakespeare First Folio in…
The Merry Wives of Windsor: What sets this comedy apart from Shakespeare’s other plays?
Simple (Derrick Truby) and Mistress Quickly (Kate Eastwood Norris) in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Folger Theatre, 2019. Cameron Whitman Photography. The Merry Wives of Windsor was written at the end of the 16th century, and is what I would…
Playlist: Windsor Top 20
Keep the party going beyond the theater with our “Merry Wives”-inspired Spotify playlist, featuring the tunes of the 70s and more.
Dramaturg's Notes: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Folger Resident Dramaturg Michele Osherow explores the history of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor,’ the wit of its wives, and the far-out 1970s setting of Folger Theatre’s production.
Shakespeare and opera: Jealousy and tragedy in Verdi's Otello
Leah Crocetto (Desdemona) and Russell Thomas (Otello) in WNO’s Otello. Photo by Scott Suchman. I find it fascinating that Verdi’s last two operas were both inspired by Shakespeare: Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), yet they are very different in story,…
Mistress Quickly: From Hostess in 'Henry IV Part 1' to Fairy Queen in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'
The Hostess seems to have been a favorite character from the beginning, ruling the tavern where Prince Hal hangs out with Falstaff. Evidently aware of her popularity with audiences, Shakespeare developed her character further in later plays, where she evolves…
Shakespeare's mother tongue: English and Latin collide in The Merry Wives of Windsor
“The Merry Wives of Windsor” was written around 1597, and is often considered to be Shakespeare’s most English play.
A Falstaff feast
Find Falstaff at Nebraska Shakespeare, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Shakespeare Dallas.
The Cotswold Olympicks
The Ancient Greeks may hold the franchise on Olympic wrestling—but how would they have fared against a 17th-century British shin-kicker? In 1612 in the tiny village of Chipping Campden, Robert Dover opened the first Cotswold Olympicks, ushering in a…