Surrey Opera returns to Minack with a new production of
this light-hearted version of Shakespeare’s comedy.
The opera, based on the play that is thought to have been written by
Shakespeare at the express request of Queen Elizabeth I, was composed by
Otto Nicolai. Its revival by Surrey Opera, in a brand-new English translation
written especially for this production, turns it back into a very English
entertainment.
When the crafty idler Falstaff decides to seduce Mistresses Ford and Page, he
finds he has bitten off more than even he can chew. His punishments include
being thrown into the Thames in a gigantic laundry basket, having to beat a
hasty retreat disguised as an old woman, and being made a fool of by a crowd
of townsfolk in a wood at midnight. And that’s not counting the sub-plot of
Mistress Page’s daughter and her lovers…
"The Merry Wives of Windsor" will be performed with full chorus and
orchestra in a specially commissioned arrangement for Minack.
link to Surrey Opera website
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