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According to legend, Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor in answer to the request of the Queen, who wished to see Falstaff from Henry the IVth in an amourous role. But this Falstaff isn't at all the jeune premier: he wants to kill two birds with one stone. He tries to seduce two wives at the same time; meanwhile he is also trying to get their husbands' money from them. The women flaunt the letter he has written them, the servants whom he has kicked out reveal his plan to the husbands, and thus, in the end he becomes the target of revenge by the victims he has preyed upon.
Compared with Shakespeare's times, the scale of values today has turned almost inside out. The civic manners of our age have loosened. Purity, moralilty and love do not represent values anymore. Instead, everything is powered by appearances, money and sexuality. Those who do not conform to these rules may become victims. In comparison with everyday intrigues, Falstaff's action is nothing but a small trick.  Nevertheless, he is found out almost in seconds and the system punishes him without mercy, humiliating and shattering the knight who does not understand anything of what is happening. The play tries to develop this dramatic element, while preserving the comic strands as well.
Opening date: May 11, 2007.
Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes with one intermission.