“The Merry Wives of Windsor” will be performed outdoors this summer by The Shakespeare Ensemble of Brookdale Community College.
The summer company is part of the college’s Performing Arts Center and its mission is to present classical works in the community at no charge.
The company made its debut in July 2002 on the Great Lawn at Brookdale, and each summer patrons tote lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets to the open air performances.
This year, the thespians kick off their season on the Great Lawn, behind Larrison Hall on Brookdale’s Lincroft campus, then take to the highways and byways for performances in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park and Michael J. Tigue Park in Freehold.
Performances take place in Lincroft on July 7-9; in Red Bank on July 14-16 and in Freehold on July 21-23. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7 p.m. Sunday performances commence at 5 p.m.
Director John Bukovec has assembled a cast of Brookdale aspiring student actors as well as performers from surrounding communities including Carolyn Hodge, Fair Haven; John Dunphy, Red Bank; Justin Webster, Rumson; Dan Pillis, Shrewsbury.
At the center of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is Sir John Falstaff, a rotund, tragi-comedic figure experiencing financial difficulties. Falstaff decides to woo the wives of two of Windsor’s leading merchants to get money out of them. Not only are the “merry wives” not interested in Falstaff as a suitor, they are not amused by his advances and decide, for their own amusement, to exact revenge for his indecent advances. Filled with misunderstandings, the plot is as complicated as one would expect from The Bard. Call (732) 224-2411.