Summer Shakespeare
On this page:
- Current Production
- Celebrating Shakespeare in Live Performance
- Summer Shakespeare Trust
- Contact Details
- Past Summer Shakespeare Productions
Current Production
Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by David Lawrence
Wellington's favourite summer theatre event, the Summer Shakespeare, returns in its 27th year with a rare chance to see one of the weirdest, funniest, and most obscure of the Bard's comedies, Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor. It's nearly 50 years since the last full production in Wellington of the play rumoured to have been commissioned by Queen Elizabeth the First herself. So popular was Shakespeare's famous drunken knight in his day that the Queen, or so the story goes, asked Will to write a spin-off play that showed Falstaff in love.
Feeling the pinch of the recession, poor Falstaff is reduced to living in a Windsor hotel and downsizing his entourage. It's the wedding day of Mr and Mrs Ford, and fast-approaching the day that Mr and Mrs Page's daughter Anne inherits her grandfather's substantial fortune. While several prospective husbands hope to marry Anne, Falstaff hits on a new money-making venture: he decides to woo both Mrs Page and Mrs Ford at the same time, intending to steal their husbands' wealth and restore himself to glory. But when both Mrs Page and Mrs Ford get wind of his plans, he becomes their unwilling prank-monkey in a series of increasingly bizarre attempts at seducing them right under the nose of Mrs Ford's insanely jealous husband.
"The Merry Wives of Windsor is one of Shakespeare's most ridiculous and accessible comedies – it's a cross between Fawlty Towers, Black Books, Blackadder and your average episode of The Simpsons – only everyone speaks Elizabethan English and at the end a comic Frenchman accidentally marries a boy" says director David Lawrence.
The 2010 Summer Shakespeare sees the return of Victoria University of Wellington as the naming sponsors, renowned director David Lawrence and many of the cast of 2009's Henry V – a production Lynn Freeman described as "a wild ride […] Lawrence's cast is totally committed".
Time and Dates
Preview Season: 5.30 pm Thursday 4 – Saturday 6 February 2010
Gladstone Vineyard, Wairarapa
Season: 7 pm Friday 12 – Saturday 27 February 2010
Amphitheatre, 77 Fairlie Terrace, Kelburn, Victoria University of Wellington
Wet Weather Venues
Wellington – Studio 77, 77 Fairlie Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington
(please note that standby tickets will not be guaranteed entry to this venue because of seating restrictions)
Duration
Performance is 2 hours 30 mins long (including interval)
Ticketing Information
Tickets – Wellington
Full: $22 (+ booking fee)
Group Concession (10+): $19 per ticket
School-age child: $14
Bookings are available from Downstage Theatre and incur a $2 booking fee – www.downstage.co.nz or phone 04 801 6946
Door Sales (Eftpos available): prices as above
Standby Tickets (available 1 hour before performance begins): $15
(Seating on ground/bank – these tickets do not guarantee entry to wet weather venue)
Tickets – Gladstone
Adult: $20
Student: $15
Bookings available from Gladstone Vineyard – www.gladstone.co.nz
Cast List
| Ralph Upton* | George Page, a moderately wealthy citizen |
| Louise Burston* | Meg Page, his wife |
| Alice Pearce* | Anne Page, their daughter |
| Bailey McCormack* | William Page, their son |
| Daniel Watterson* | Frank Ford, an extremely wealthy citizen |
| Laura Feslier* | Alice Ford, his wife |
| Blair Everson* | Fenton, an impoverished gentleman, in love with Anne Page |
| Benjamin Haddock* | Sir John Falstaff, an impoverished knight, lodging at the Garter Inn |
| Dominic McElwee | Robin, his page |
| Tamas Molnar | Bardolph, a thief |
| Vicky Roper | Pistol, a grifter |
| Helen Sims* | Nym, a cony-catcher |
| Kirsty Bruce* | The Host of the Garter Inn a hotelier |
| Shannon Tubman Bailey McCormack Alice Pearce James Barber Daniel Watterson |
The Host's staff |
| Melanie Camp* | Sir Hugh Evans, a Welsh Parson |
| James Barber* | Robert Shallow, a Justice of the Peace |
| Michael Pohl* | Abraham Slender, Shallow's nephew, in love with Anne Page |
| Eleanor Stewart* | Peter Simple, Slender's servant |
| Florence Mato | Dr Caius a French physician, in love with Anne Page |
| Jessica Aaltonen | Nell Quickly, Dr Caius' housekeeper |
| Ngahiriwa Rauhina | John Rugby, Dr Caius' servant |
| Members of the company | Servants, Townsfolk, Onlookers, Musicians, Fairies, Meatpuppets |
| Alison Walls* | Producer |
| Rose Morrison | Designer |
| Marly Doyle Lisa Doherty |
Costume co-ordination |
| Paul Tozer | Production Manager |
| Adrianne Roberts* | Marketing Manager |
| Manda Smith | Stage Manager |
| David Lawrence* | Director |
| *VUW graduate or current student | |
Celebrating Shakespeare in Live Performance
The first Summer Shakespeare was in 1982, when Adrian Kiernander's memorable A Midsummer Night's Dream took over the University quadrangle. Since then, the Summer Shakespeares have become known for their energetic, large-cast productions and their festive approach to the plays. They have been performed outside in the Quad, Wellington Civic Square, the Amphitheatre in Te Papa, Boyd Wilson Field, the Amphitheatre at 77 Fairlie Terrace and in the Dell at the Wellington Botanical Gardens to large and appreciative audiences.
Summer Shakespeare Trust
The Summer Shakespeare Trust was formed in 1985, at the request of the VUWSA Drama Club, for two purposes: first, to provide advice, continuity and a secure base from which to create each annual show; second, to provide a responsible management group as a guarantee to the Wellington public, and to all the organisations and individuals who so generously support the Summer Shakespeare. The Summer Shakespeare Trust now works in affiliation with the School of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington.
Contact Details
Alison Walls (Administrator)
Summer Shakespeare Trust
PO Box 9925, Marion Square, Wellington 6141
Email: summershakespearewellington@gmail.com
Past Summer Shakespeare Productions
2009 – Henry V
2007 – As You Like It
2006 – The Taming of the Shrew
2005 – Much Ado About Nothing
2004 – The Tempest
2003 – Romeo and Juliet