One of the best parts of watching and reviewing community theatre is how unpredictable it can be. One never knows when sitting down to a performance if we will get the one night where a voice cracks or an actor forgets all their lines and improvs- you get the idea. It could also be a night of triumph for the entire company. We just don’t know. Of course, sometimes the elements of a performance end up outside of the cast and crews control and the team has to then adapt to the unexpected. Such was my experience yesterday at Creekside and the weather for The Merry Wives of Windsor.

I honestly was nervous going to the play that night because it had been a rainy day. If I was just a patron and not doing a review I probably wouldn’t have come (reason for the small attendance I’m sure) but I like to uphold my commitments whenever possible and so rainclouds and all I headed to Cedar Hills to watch the show.

To be clear Creekside has 3 venues this year both inside and outside but Merry Wives is held in the outdoor venue at Heritage Park. It is literally creek-side where on the left of the stage is a loud running creek. The previous year we had a wind storm that was incredibly memorable (see review here) so I might just be bad luck for this company but we will always keep trying!

The night started tame enough but about 20 minutes in the rain began and I was fortunate to have a chair with a sun covering for the beach. They were also very good about distributing umbrellas to anyone who needed it, which I appreciate. There wasn’t any lightning so no danger to the actors so we pushed on forward. Between the creek and the wind it sometimes was hard to hear the actors but fortunately it is not a complex play so I followed along just fine.

If you are unfamiliar with Merry Wives it is quite possibly Shakespeare’s silliest play focusing on Sir John Falstaff and his attempts to seduce 2 rich married women (hence the wives.) These women, Mistress Ford and Page, are rightfully offended by his advances and seek revenge on him in very funny ways. Because of some outdated elements it isn’t a play performed a lot, and I’ve actually only seen it one other time years ago (although they just announced it for Utah Shakespeare Festival for 2027 so that will be fun.) I wish I could have had a distraction-free viewing without the rain but I still enjoyed the opportunity to see this silly play.

The production at Creekside is directed by Jan Hunsaker and I appreciate her using the unique space as much as possible. Several times actors come out into the crowd- at one point an actress handed out chocolates to us and during the scene with the faeries the actors are on the grass dancing outside of the actual stage. I also appreciate when Falstaff gets dumped into the Thames the actor actually goes down into the dry creek-bed and pulls himself back onto the stage. They also do a good job with all of the laundry props that are given to Falstaff to make him look ridiculous. The costumes by Jen Christensen are also a lot of fun although a little confusing as to what era they belonged in. Some seemed to be Edwardian, others Renaissance, others Victorian but I did like the colors and fabrics used.

While the weather did make it harder to absorb some performances I was still impressed with the quality of the cast. Liam Owens is appropriately stupid and foppish as Falstaff and Hillary Straga and Jana Wilhite have a nice chemistry together as Mistress Ford and Page. I particularly appreciate towards the end when Falstaff is dressed as a stag and made to look the fool. It’s very funny.

I also appreciate they shortened the intermission with the rain so we were able to get finished the production in around 2 hours. This is considerate of the audience sitting out in the rain. I wish I had time to see The Merry Wives of Windsor again at Creekside but I do not. Fortunately you still have time to see it. It is playing through July 1st and tickets can be purchased here.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is Shakespeare’s 23rd play having been written between 1600-1601. It is sandwiched in between Hamlet and Troilus and Cressida so it must have been a breath of fresh air in between 2 tragedies and especially a nice break after the intensity of Hamlet. Evidently Queen Elizabeth 1 asked Shakespeare to write a play about Falstaff after seeing him depicted in Henry IV Part 1

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