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The Merry Wives of Windsor

Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Bill Simmons

Basile Theatre, IndyFringe

Indianapolis, Indiana

Though recontextualizing Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor is not a new idea by any stretch, this final show of Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project's 2015-16 season continued with it's stylistic themes centered around art styles or periods, choosing the 1950s as a backdrop for what is often considered a mysoginistic piece.  Instead, under Director Bill Simmons' direction, this production leaned heavily on female friendships and farce to produce a feminist rethinking, citing I Love Lucy's Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz as a base for Mistress Ford and Mistress Page.

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For the scenic design, instead of letting Windsor be a village, suburb, or any number of other over-used locations, we chose to set our production in a hotel casino, a place that would serve as a weekend getaway for these middle class suburbanites; somewhere they could get away and let loose.  Thus, the Windsor Hotel and Resort was born!  

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Heavily influenced by The Beverly Hills Hotel in style and color pallete, the set worked as simultaneous indoor/outdoor public and private spaces, such as a lobby, poolside lounge, or the sitting room of a hotel suite.

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February  2016

Director: Bill Simmons
Lighting Designer: Christian McKinney
Scenic Designer: Sarah White

Technical Director: Ronn Johnstone

 

© 2015 Sarah White. All rights reserved.

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