Friday night I went to see the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," a production that takes place in the Wild West circa the 1870's, and I admit it . . . I didn't want to like it. I thought OSF's 'accessibility' creed had gone too far. I was sure that the Director, Tony Simotes, would have to warp and "dumb-down" Shakespeare's text to make his version of "Merry Wives meets Big Sky" work. And . . . I was sorely mistaken. Simotes has seamlessly and convincingly transplanted a 400-year-old work into the setting of the Wild West to produce a delightful, and meaningful, addition to OSF's repertoire.

Music is one way Simotes makes 20th century connections: it filters in and out of the production to become part of the text, as an apparition-like violin player appears and reappears at opportune moments to hilariously serenade the characters in their moments of despair. The direction creates many opportunities like this to let the audience in on seemingly private jokes. In fact, by the time the production reaches its climax in one of the final scenes (the forest), the gap between the stage and the audience has been erased. A curiously-scented fog wafts out into the crowd, as the audience becomes hidden in the forest along with the "ghosts" and "fairies," making it overwhelmingly apparent that the audience is a part of their community.

The show was also full of the usual Shakespearean comedy gags: a cross-dressing episode, an uproarious battle of the sexes, and, of course, the innumerable hip thrusts to highlight the bawdy innuendoes inescapably rooted in the text. It even seems, at least until the Intermission, to rely too heavily on this physical humor, but after the momentum builds it's clear that Director and cast are working toward more than just a few cheap laughs; they are creating a community, and through the various relationships, are exploring its importance. By the time the last square dance is over, it is no longer important whether that community is Elizabethan or Western. Yee haw.

Jodie Marion I teach Composition at UCF while also studying for my Master's degree, which should be completed--hopefully--before the turn of the century. In the meantime I write for the Central Florida Hispanic (Education section) and especially dig reading Lawrence Durrell. Other Articles I've Written