'Man of La Mancha' is a dream in Manassas

From left, Emilie Marshall Peace is Aldonza, Nate Mikami is Don Quixote, George Fulda is Sancho Panza, and (above) Adam Cook is the Innkeeper in Prince William Little Theatre's Man of La Mancha/Photo by Heather Reagan

For those who may need a picker-upper, take my advice and go online right now and get tickets for Prince William Little Theatre's marvelous musical, Man of La Mancha.

It’s a wonderful cure for whatever might ail you, certain to provide healing and a mental uplift since it’s likely a few bars of The Impossible Dream may strum in your head for a few days after you see it, and maybe thrust you into ... whatever.

And why not?

Nate Mikami is the man who commands the show with a passionate, convincing portrayal (let alone singing voice) of Don Quixote, the fictional character created by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century, in a story Wikipedia calls the first modern novel, one of the most translated in the world.

Bob Rosenberg is the Captain of the Inquisition in Prince William Little Theatre's Man of La Mancha/Photo by Heather Reagan

Cervantes writes fictionally of himself, thrown into a dungeon in the late 16th century during the Spanish Inquisition with his manservant (who later becomes Sancho [George Fulda]). 

The show is a play within a play but don't let that confuse you because it doesn't.

To convince fellow prisoners in the dungeon to save his belongings (his manuscript), Cervantes pleads with them to let him tell his tale and they can be part of it! 

 A good deal, no? 

 And away they go on a trail of adventures with the newly names Don Quixote as the leader of the pack, a man who can turn windmills into giants and make castles out of taverns.

From left, Kaitlin Craig, John Totten as the Padre, Caroline Kinney as Antonia sing I'm Only Thinking of Him in Prince William Little Theatre's Man of La Mancha/Photo by Heather Reagan

"I hope to add a measure of grace to the world," Don Quixote says, following his quest to see things that others don't (and maybe, not see what others see!).

The energetic and humorous Sancho who likes Don Quixote a lot (!), hop scotches all over the stage while they "travel" and soon encounter a lovely lady, a sassy harlot (Emilie Marshal Peace) besotted by a bad reputation. Don Quixote makes a quest to rescue her from her poor self-image, shepherding the lass into becoming the remarkable woman of confidence and strength she is.

He changes her name from Aldonza to Dulcinea. She, not so willing for a name change.

Please! Be wary of scoundrels along the travel route, like "moors" who can bewitch adventurers with song and dance and steal their prized possessions (like a manuscript) while subjects are under their spell. (Tammy West in a red skirt with the long dangly silver belt danced circles around the victims in more ways than one. [The audience groaned and tried to warn the blissfully ignorant of impending theft!])

Throughout the show, the actors’ conviviality is evident and their delight transfers to the audience.

The music of the 14 (!) member orchestra under the direction of Chuck Schmidt was a critical piece of the show's enjoyment, impossible to dream this show without them.

Ken and Patti Crowley’s always effective lighting with changing colors and intensity give certain scenes a special glow to complement the story. Their spotlight is especially prominent when the captain of the Inquisition (Bob Rosenberg) in silver armor opens the iron gate at the top of the dungeon to deliver a haunting message in a shimmering combination. (Riley Leonhardt, designer of period costumes.)

It's been years since I've seen this Man, and how I’ve missed him and his message of perseverance and hope that never grows old.

The show is one of the first historically fictionalized musicals to be presented on stage, winning five Tony Awards in 1966, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for Dale Wasserman, Mitch Leigh, and Joe Carion.

Other cast members are: Chris Anderson, John Totten, Caroline Kinney, Kaitlin Craig, Adam Cook, Luis Vasquez, Brad Blythe, David Maeng, Dave Reph, Sally Ann Flores, and Amy Treat.

Suzy Moorstein directs with stage management by Samantha and Elliot Fulda.

Other production creators are Will Taft, sound direction; Vince Worthington, set design; Laura Mills, properties; and Kim Leone, intimacy coordinator and fight choreographer.

What: Man of La Mancha

When: Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17 at 8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Oct. 17-18

Where: Hylton Performing Art Center, 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA 20110

Cost (with fees): Adults, $35; Seniors, $29; Students, Military, Groups, $25

For more information: Ticket office: 703-993-7759, Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. or email: Hylton@gmu.edu, ph. 703-993-7550

Alert: Before the curtain goes up, an announcement is made that the show contains matters of mental health and sexual assault.

Don Quixote and Sancho Pancho. Engraving by Gustave Doré/Wikipedia, 1863

Don Quixote goes mad from his reading of books of chivalry.  Engraving by Gustave Doré/Wikipedia. Originally published 1863; this edition 1906.

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Only in DC! Bach and Frederick the Great

Adolph von Menzel, 1815-1905, Frederick the Great Playing the Flute at Sanssouci, 1852 with Carl Philip Emanuel Bach on  harpsichord, Carl Graun (standing, between two ladies on the left), Johann Quantz (far right) and Franz Benda (second from right), all portrayed in Theatre Royal Bath's The Source at Shakespeare Theatre Company/Wikipedia, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

To see British theatre on stage in Washington, one may go immediately to the Shakespeare Theatre Company's website and purchase tickets for the outstanding production by Theatre Royal Bath which has crossed the pond, bringing with it the troupe and a royal star who deliver one of the great performances of the season in Washington, D.C., its only U.S. venue. 

Sir Trevor Nunn (you do remember his Cats and Les Misérables?) directs.

The star is global winner Brian Cox and the show, The Score  by Oliver Cotton, based on a true encounter between Johann Sebastian Bach (Cox) and Frederick II, King of Prussia (Stephen Hagan) in 1747 when the two met in  Potsdam.

Real-life husband and wife, Brian Cox and Nicole Ansari-Cox are Anna Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach in Theatre Royal Bath's The Source at Shakespeare Theatre Company/By Theresa Castracane

Certainly, set designer Robert Jones and lighting designer Johanna Town must be students of Vermeer and his window works since they duplicate the painter’s haunting shadows and lighting in the opening scene with Bach and his wife, Anna (Cox's real-life wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox) seated inside their home in Leipzig, complaining about the outside clamor they hear emanating from the king's soldiers whose commotions upset residents. (Sophie Cotton is sound designer.) 

Bach is like a fuse waiting to be lit.  He’s unhappy, gruff and mad at the world.  His daughter (never seen) is ill, yet he must leave her and go visit the king who has summoned him to Potsdam. 

Anna pushes her husband out the door.

Like many artists who'd rather be doing most anything else, Bach resists visiting “your highness,” but, alas! The king wants to meet the musical genius.

In conversation, it's not long before Bach (1685 –1750) , the moralist and strict Lutheran, challenges the atheist king (1712-1786) to atone for his soldiers' rape of a blind 14-year-old girl in Leipzig, and the king responds, so what? "These things happen."

Bach is the good; the king, the bad.  Bach, morality; the king, unscrupulous, but, maybe, towards the end, scrupulsome? 

His father, Frederick William I, the "soldier king," had brought his son up "to be a man," treating him brutally, shunning his son’s interests in the arts and prohibiting Frederick II's pursuit of culture, even beheading II's rumored homosexual lover in front of his son.

Nevertheless, Frederick II became a great musician, a composer and a flutist in his own right.

Hagan's performance was absolutely captivating as king, to see him move around the stage like a stag, the very best of any king I’ve seen, a stunning portrayal of Frederick II, and coming close to riding roughshed over the star.

He is strong, he is arrogant, he is confident as he flings himself upon a chair and extends both arms, his legs, splayed. And when he stands, his arclike posture  commands all the personalities around him. But he is the king.

Jamie Wilkes is Bach's subservient son, Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, a convincing rendering of an offspring who competes with other court composers  (the king’s sycophants, Christopher Staines, Matthew Romain, Toby Webster) utilizing the history of Bach I and the king, to participate in an outrageous bet about his father’s talents.

From left, King Frederick II of Prussia  (Stephen Hagan) with court composers (Christopher Staines, Toby Webster, and Matthew Romain) in Theatre Royal Bath's The Source at Shakespeare Theatre Company/By Theresa Castracane

From left, Voltaire (Peter De Jersey) and Johann Sebastian Bach (Brian Cox) backed by court composers (Christopher Staines, Toby Webster, and Matthew Romain) in Theatre Royal Bath's The Source at Shakespeare Theatre Company/By Theresa Castracane

Voltaire (Peter De Jersey) who lived for a while with Frederick II, declaring him to be "a philosopher-king," and exchanging many letters with him,  pops up every now and then in a lusty, comedic presentation to add doses of humor and lighten the score. (The play has lots more humor than anticipated.) 

Jones's exceptional sets and costumes match the luxury of von Menzel's painting.

The similarities to today’s American society and leadership leap to mind several times during the play, watching opposites contrast between the main characters, good and evil, and the conflicts between the people and a ruler who cares little about them and their wellbeing.

Other cast members are Juliet Garricks, Will Kerr, Jordan Kilshaw, Claire Morrissey, Max Pink, and Geoffrey Towers.

I can’t recall ever listing a casting director but kudos to Ginny Schiller! 

Other artistic team members are Cordelia Monsey, associate director; Theatre Royal Bath Productions, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, producers; Laura Smith, Felix Dunning and Lorna Earl, stage managers.

 

What: The Source

 

When:  Now through Oct. 25 (extended), 7:30 p.m., Tuesday – Sunday; 2 p.m. every Saturday and some Thursdays and Sundays

 

Where:  Shakespeare Theatre Company, Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004

 

How much:  Tickets start at $39

Duration:  About 2.5 hours with one intermission

 

For more information:  Ph. 202.547.1122,  7 days a week, 12–6pm

'Blithe Spirits' land in Alexandria

From left are Cameron McBride (Dr. George Bradman), Eric Kennedy (Charles Condomine), Eleanore Tapscott (Madame Arcati), Sarah Cusenza (Ruth Condomine), and Raeanna Nicole Larson (Mrs. Violet Bradman) in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt Liptak

The Little Theatre of Alexandria stages another welcome classic with Sir Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, a comedy that’s been around longer than most (b.1941) and there's a reason for its continual return to the world's stage: It's a treat and a (sky) lark (?)! A great escape!

Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819: "Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!"

It was England and World War II when the bombs were dropping a'plenty, but its citizens needed a respite every now and then, like we all do (like now).

To the manor house, they go, some, from the “other side.”

Ruth (Sarah Cusenza) and Charles Condomine (Eric Kennedy) are hosting a dinner party in their elegant home with friends (who are real life husband and wife, Cameron McBride and Raeanna Nicole Larson) and a “medium” (Eleanore Tapscott).

Charles is a famous novelist and plans to milk medium Madame Arcati for any tips she can give him for a story he’s writing.

Things do not go as planned. Madame Arcati is anything but "medium."

Post dinner, she becomes a big scarlet macaw (whose colors Madame matches), sweeping around the room, landing momentarily at one spot or another before flying to her next perch with a wingspan of almost four feet, while the other adults in the room sit in amazement, mouths ajar.

Katie Weigl is Elvira in Little Theatre of Alexandria's Blithe Spirit/Photo by Matt Liptak

Madame conducts a séance and unwittingly summons the ghost of Charles’s first wife, Elvira (Katie Weigl), who died young, after only five years of marriage.

And here she comes, through windswept doors, the sassy Elvira, dressed all in grey, a long flowing gown with cape and face color to match.

Like all ghosts, she flits around the stage, rushing left to right and back again, throwing her hands in the air and seeking to disrupt Charles and Ruth’s marriage.

Charles is the only one who, initially, can see and hear Elvira, her teasing which begins to create havoc in the Condomines’ household.

Ruth can hear Charles speaking to Elvira and thinks his words are meant for her.

Charles to Elvira: "I could drink you under the table."

Ruth: "There's no need to be aggressive, Charles. I'm doing my best to help you."

A few minutes later, Charles tells Elvira to "shut up!"

Ruth: "How dare you speak to me like that!"

(Ms. Cusenza’s Ruth is splendid, talking to a wall or sofa or portrait on the wall, the piano, wherever she thinks Elvira sits or stands, not an easy task to perform with someone who is not there but is there. [Huh? You have to be there.])

Soon, there’s a murder and now there are two ghosts, each in ghostly grey apparel and caked in heavy grey makeup (which made me wince to think about removing it. Maureen Roult designed the hair and makeup).

Just what a man needs: Two wives screaming at him simultaneously after a brief interlude in a menage a trois ahead of chaos. (May I suggest to a producer that he or she exchange principal roles so the wife endures two ghostly husbands?)

The setting is absolutely divine, darling (by Julie Fischer), the parlor of a 1930s luxurious home where the servant, Edith (Caroline J. Berger) runs hither and yon or slows (per Ruth) to serve tea and refreshments to gents and ladies whom costumers Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley have dressed to the nines: the women in floor length silken gowns with gloves and fancy jewelry, the men in equal getup.

Which ghost “wins”? Come, blithe spirits, see and laugh at them.

The biggest “star” of the night was the superb acting by all the characters, no disappointments by nary a one. Hats off to director Ward Kay, assisted by Liz Isbell.

Other crew members are David Correia, sound; Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Maureen Dawson and Jennifer Rhorer, stage managers; Olivia Hinebaugh and Misty White, combat and intimacy directors; Meredith J. Ludwig, producer; Monique Morman, technical director; and Emilie Pade, properties.

I’ll have one of those cucumber sandwiches, if you please and thank you.

What: Blithe Spirit

When: Now thru Sept.19, 2026, Thursday – Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees, 2 p.m.

Where: Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314  

Admission: $30 (fee, included)

Duration: Almost three hours with one intermission

Audience: Mature teens on up

Language: A few “adult” words sprinkled here and there 

Parking: Park for free on the streets or at the nearby Capital One Bank. 

For more information: Box Office, 703-683-0496; boxoffice@thelittletheatre.com

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'Head over Heels' in love at Prince William Little Theatre

 

From left: Pamela (Brittany Washington), King Basilius (Chris Anderson), Queen Gynecia (Jolene Vettese), Dametus (Andrew Morin), Mopsa (Meredith Kilmartin), and Philoclea (Grace Miller) in Prince William Little Theatre's Head Over Heels, on stage through Sunday night/Heather Regen Photography

It’s quite a combo to mix 500-year-old characters with today's hipsters, but that what the Prince William Little Theatre has done with its latest show, Head Over Heels, an adult comedy on stage through Sunday night at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas.

It's all about the royal family of Arcadia on a musical journey to save its "beat" as the Oracle Pythio has warned the nobility to act now or forever forget their kingdom.

What's love got to do with it? 

Why it makes the world go 'round, of course, especially when the King and Queen of Arcadia (Chris Anderson and Jolene Vettese) have two daughters they're just itching to get hitched.

In a gentle but authentic performance, Grace Miller is Princess Philoclea, the younger daughter, who is smitten by Musidorus (Nathan Peck), a mere shepherd boy and not good enough for his offspring, thinks the king.

The older daughter, Pamela (Brittany Washington), is the more beautiful child (she says so herself), with so many suitors, what's a poor girl to do? 

(She eventually wakes up to love in the most conspicuous of places. Thank you, handmaid Mopsa [Meredith Kilmartin].)

The Royal Couple isn't the happiest of married couples, it soon becomes obvious. To be kind: They tolerate each other but they got the beat and shout out "This Old Feeling" when the king's eyes shut so tightly I thought they were permanently glued. 

It was a stunning delivery (the king also doubles as music director) like the queen's exasperations and wifely responses known to too many wives throughout Arcadia. (Make that, the world.)

Pythio (Clayton Alex Jones) comes on scene (an absolute killer whenever they make an appearance with sweeping gestures and exaggerated slow talk), surrounded by aides wearing head dresses of rhinestoned snakes.  

The non-binary oracle adds to their allure that that "heaven is a place on earth" if we become more tolerant and generous to those around us. 

 

Clayton Alex Jones is the Oracle in Prince William Little Theatre's Head Over Heels on stage through Sunday night/Heather Regen Photography

Although language in the show is rated "g," it's got the best simulated sex scene I've seen, moving to the audience's whoops and whistles.  (Wowsers! "Love with a Stranger" is not sung.)

Also in the cast is Andrew Morin as Dametas, the king's courtier and Mopsa's father.

This show has lots of action and great duets, particularly when Princess Pamela and Mopsa sing duets and harmonize.  

A big painting in the middle of the stage announces scene changes to show exactly where on their trip the Royal Family is. (Joey Olson, set designer.) 

It's no surprise to learn the costumes (by Susy Moorstein and Riley Leonhardt) are a mix of yesterday and today.

The welcome six-member band, under the baton of Matthew Scarborough, is mostly unseen on an elevated platform. 

Members of the creative team include Melanie McGuin, director and choreographer; Laura Mills and Melissa Jo York-Tilley, producers; Cristina Casais, assistant choreographer; Kasey Moore and Esther Wells, stage managers; Leonhardt and York-Tilley, hair and makeup; Draconia Craig and Melanie McCleerey, properties.

Also, Ken and Patti Crowley, lighting; Tim McCleerey, sound; and Lanny Warkentien, lion tamer.

With adaptation by James Magruder, Jeff Whitty wrote this "jukebox musical" of mostly popular tunes from the past, like those by the "Go-Gos" featured at the show. 

With fees included, tickets are $35 for adults; $29, seniors and students; $24, military and children The Hylton Performing Arts Center, 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA 20110. Ticket office, ph. 703-993-7759.

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Shakespeare's 'Wild Duck' is must-see

Melanie Field is Gina Ekdal and Nick Westrate is Hjalmar Ekdal in Shakespeare Theatre Company's The Wild Duck/By Gerry Goodstein

Do you reveal the truth to those around you, thinking it will help when it's none of your business?

When "the truth" may set you free but may make matters worse and upset family dynamics?

Do I tell my best friend her husband is having an affair with her next door neighbor? Or that I heard from medical team members that her mother's cancer has returned and it's terminable?

Is it up to me?

The second act of The Wild Duck caused my hand and fingers to stop moving.

I was hypnotized and my notetaking ceased, overcome by Shakespeare Theatre Company's Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck, "rarely performed" and likely the only time I'll see it, according to program notes by the theatre's artistic director, Simon Godwin, who directs.

Not one sneeze, one cough, or one dropped program by audience members sounded in the auditorium of several hundred.

We were breathless, unable to break the total silence which engulfed the venue.

But lest I go hyperbolic, do go prepared. Read a synopsis beforehand, but even that won't prepare you for this spellbinding performance.

The first act is the calm before the storm, the explosion of the second act when Gina (Melanie Field), a mousy wife we are led to believe, evolves into a forceful dynamo to stand her ground and make her pleas that she is a loving wife, no matter what has happened in the past, but husband, Hjalmar (Nick Westrate), refuses to accept her arguments when she begs for forgiveness and acceptance of the past.


Their daughter, Hedvig (Maaike Laanstra-Corn) is a clingy type, torn by her dad's anger and her blood curdling screams typify the tragedy which I joined in mourning. (Had I not been "prepared," no doubt I would have been sobbing with the woman behind me.)

The first act's gentle husband becomes a possessive spouse/louse, urged on by the devil incarnate, Gregers Werle (Alexander Hurt), always wearing black and spouting the same, trying to "do good," or is he?

Can't you realize, Hjalmar, what's happening? But, Hjalmar is blinded by passion and the past.

David Patrick Kelly is Old Ekdal in Shakespeare Theatre Company's The Wild Duck/By Hollis King

The acting is superb, none finer than that by David Patrick Kelly, the slow and bent grandpa who has a relationship, too, with the arrogant and conceited patriarch (Robert Stanton) who has relationships with everybody, including his disaffected son who resist his father's moves and money.

Alexander Sovronsky is the music director who, with sound designer Darron L. West, has composed a beautiful and unforgettable score of 19th century Norwegian folk and classical music which Sovronsky plays on various instruments between scenes.

It is David Eldridge’s version of Ibsen's play, the place, Norway in the 1880s.

Ibsen is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and, according to Wikipedia, "the most important playwright since Shakespeare" who influenced, among others, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Eugene O'Neill, and James Joyce.

Some consider Wild Duck the most complex and Ibsen's finest work, the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy, but writing about it, the humorous parts totally eclipsed me who found it somewhat sexist.

In program notes, Drew Lichtenberg quotes Ibsen: Wild Duck "will certainly provoke discussion, but it cannot possibly give offense to anyone." I beg to differ.

Cast members include Katie Broad, Mahira Kakkar, Bobby Plasencia, and Matthew Saldivar.

Other creative team members are Andrew Boyce, scenics;
Heather C. Freedman, costumes; Stacey Derosier, lighting;
Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum, movement and fight director; Andrew Wade, voices; Satellite Wigs; Jonno Knust, properties; Laura Smith, production stage manager; Dayne Sundman, assistant stage manager.

Produced in association with Theatre for a New Audience, this makes Ibsen STC's second most-produced playwright after ...

What: The Wild Duck

When:  Through Nov. 16, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. with weekend matinees at 2 p.m.

Where: Shakespeare Theatre Company's Klein Theatre, 450 7th St., NW, Washington, DC 20004

Tickets: Start at $39

Audio Description: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2pm 

Open Captioning: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 12 p.m., and Nov. 13, 7:30pm

Audience: For adults and mature children 

For more information: Call the Box Office at 202-547-1122, seven days a week, 12 – 6pm which remains open until curtain time. ShakespeareTheatre.org.

Duration:  About 2.5 hours with one intermission  

Metro Stations: Gallery Place, Archives, Metro Center

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This 'Hou$e' has got Herndon talking

From left, Jule Nelson-Duac, Cristina Sanchez and Ixchel Hernandez star in NextStop Theatre's Dream Hou$e/by NextStop

Rather than a "dream house," this becomes a horror house (with some laughs thrown in). 

Dream Hou$e by Eliana Pipes is presented by NextStop Theatre, all about two Latina sisters, Patricia and Julia (Cristina Sanchez and Ixchel Hernandez) who grapple with how to sell their deceased mother's house.

Should they? Will they?

They argue, they embrace, adjust to new family dynamics, and show growing respect and love for each another. 

Into the house steps the glamourous and smiling-between clinched teeth, Tessa (Jule Nelson-Duac), a stereotypical real estate television personality who enthusiastically tells the ladies that she can sell their house for ... are you ready?

Much more than they ever dreamed about!

Millions more than they could ever imagine!

The sisters gasp! They hug! Can this be true?

And Tessa shows them how, in this deepening strange and weird tale.

In the room the silent female movers go (Leela Aviles Dawson, Carianmax Benitez, and Sadie Koopman)  wasting no time "staging" the house for Tessa's television show, while the TV host morphs into a scary, sci-fi character who deliciously coaxes the sisters into...

My! What big teeth she has! The better to gobble you up!

Rather than focusing on the sisters, the script has Tessa increasingly taking center stage and she has no trouble meeting demands nor do the homeowners who, under the direction of Helen Hayes Award winner, Dylan Arredondo, all deliver solid, creditable performances.

Grisele Gonzalez has designed a full set of a home's living area, a warm environment which gradually loses its character and becomes a sterile room, as the movers go about their duties. Rather like Tessa transitions to a monster.

NextStop's values include "encouraging the exploration of new ideas, creative risks, and pushing boundaries to keep theater vibrant and relevant."

And to that, amen, sister: Dream Hou$e achieves its goals and more. 

The creative team includes Ilyana Rose-Davila, costumes; Alberto Segarra, lighting; Jason Dearing, props; Madeline “Mo” Oslejsek, sound; Zavier Taylor, multimedia design.

Also, Katie Ciszek, dramaturg; Sam Rollin, stage manager; Andres Jovel, assistant stage manager.

What:  Dream Hou$e

When: Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. Through Oct. 5, 2025

Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. 

Parking: Park for free in the business park at NextStop's location.

Metro Station: Walk 15 minutes from the Herndon Metro Stop.

Tickets:  $48 (with fee included)

For more information:  703-481-5930 x1; info@nextstoptheatre.org

Duration: 90 mins., no intermission

Ages:  Adult themes and some adult language

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Shakespeare's 'Merry Wives' will show you a good time

From left, Shakespeare Theatre Company's Merry Wives are Mrs. Ford (Felicia Curry, left,) and Mrs. Page (Oneika Phillips) separated by the conniving Falstaff (Jacob Ming-Trent)/by Teresa Castracane

It's a comedy tonight!

And the wildest, funniest contemporary Shakespeare version I have seen, and the crowd roared with me. 

Shakespeare Theatre Company presents the adaptation, Merry Wives by Jocelyn Bioh which she wrote for NYC's 2021 Shakespeare in the Park, all about West African immigrants and cultures in present-day Harlem.

And a boisterous, rowdy lot they are, indeed! 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Ford (Nick Rashad Burroughs and Felicia Curry) own a laundromat while their friends, the Pages (JaBen Early and Oneika Phillips) have a hair salon.

Amidst an elegant setting of a three-story building at a subway stop, the haughty and laughable Falstaff (Jacob Ming-Trent) is hungry for all kinds of treasures and sets his sights on two wealthy women whose possessions he is in need. 

Like many lovers who screw up when more than one is involved, Falstaff is a prime contender. 

"Setting the attractions of my good parts aside, I have no other charms," he says, most assuredly with high confidence he'll succeed in his quests.

Alas, if you can imagine a mixup in Shakespeare: Falstaff sends both of his targets the same love letter!

But, being the savvy sisters they are, Ms. Page and Ms. Ford soon grasp what Falstaff is all about and they plan revenge. Saith Madam Page:  "Wives may be merry, and yet honest too."

Time and again, the wives play tricks on the slobbery, wobbly Falstaff from the laundry room to the hair salon to the woods amidst spectacular sets by Lawrence E. Moten III.

The ladies lean, they twist their bodies and a few words.

Their husbands soon join the party, Mr. Page who says: "I do despise a liar as I do despise one that is false, or as I despise one that is not true" while the jealous Mr. Ford (Mrs. Ford will learn 'em!) claims it is "better three hours too soon than a minute too late." 

Meanwhile, several suitors chase the Pages' daughter, Anne (Peyton Rowe), none more entertaining than the good Dr. Caius (Jordan Barbour) whose exaggerated antics made me laugh often. 

Others in pursuit of the young lass are Fenton and Slender (Latoya Edwards in both roles).

Anne has her favorite, and so did I who could have watched Shaka Zu, an ensemble member, dance the night away. 

Taylor Reynolds directs. Other cast members are Bru Aju, Kelli Blackwell, Rebecca Celeste, Sekou Laidlaw, Craig Wallace, and Tyrone Stanley. 

The artistic team included Ivania Stack, costumes; Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, lighting; Mikaal Sulaiman, sound; Nikiya Mathis, wigs and hair; Ashleigh King, choreographer; Nadia Guevara, associate director; Laura Smith, production stage manager; 
Jazzy Davis and Stephen Bubniak, assistant stage managers.

Scholars say Shakespeare wrote the Merry Wives of Windsor to answer Queen Elizabeth's request for more of Falstaff, this time in love.  Ms. Bioh's rendition keeps almost all of the original script first published 400 years ago. (Classics last!)

STC will have a special evening on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7:30 pm for guests to "mix, mingle, and be merry" at Harman Hall for Akwaaba Night with the show, cast and cultures.

What: Merry Wives

When:  Through Oct. 5, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. with weekend matinees at 2 p.m.

Where: Harman Hall, Shakespeare Theatre Company, 610 F Street NW. Washington, DC 20004

Tickets: Start at $35

Audience: For adults and mature children 

For more information: Call the Box Office at 202-547-1122, seven days a week, 12 – 6pm. The Box Office windows remain open until curtain time.

Duration:  Almost two hours without intermission 

Metro Stations: Gallery Place, Archives, Metro Center

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