Merry Wives of Windsor

Chicago Shakespeare Theater - April 11, 2026

Directed by Phillip Breen

Starring Jason Simon (as Sir John Falstaff), Issy van Randwyck (as Mistress Ford), Ora Jones (as Mistress Page)

About the Play

The Merry Wives of Windsor is one of Shakespeare's comedies, centered around Sir John Falstaff, a larger-than-life, old-ish, portly, egotistical knight who believes he can charm the two wives of Windsor, best friends Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. After sending each a love letter, the mistresses turn the tables and plot to woo Falstaff instead. Falstaff is tricked into making all sorts of ridiculous grand love gestures, culminating in the final act, where he dresses as a forest buck with antlers. Other characters are drawn into this world as well. Master Ford becomes paranoid about his wife's supposed infidelity, while Anne Page (daughter of Master and Mistress Page) chooses to marry for love, defying her parents' wishes. The play ends with Falstaff left humiliated, but with a lesson learned. Like Shakespeare's other comedies, in the end, everything is forgiven.

Today, a play like Merry Wives of Windsor would likely never be written as it is; it's full of fat jokes and tricks that border on cruelty directed at Falstaff. It's said that Shakespeare wrote it in 1597 at the request of Queen Elizabeth I, who had seen the comedic Falstaff in Shakespeare's earlier plays, and asked to see a play where he was "in love”. (Interesting fact: Falstaff is the only non-historical leading character who appears in four Shakespeare’s plays—Henry IV Parts One & Two, and Henry V in addition to Merry Wives of Windsor.)