What: The Merry Wives of Windsor, the classic play by William Shakespeare about romantic shenanigans in the town of Windsor, presented by the Department of Dance and Theatre at the University of North Texas. The play is directed by Valerie Hauss-Smith, a French native and adjunct professor at UNT.
When: 7:30 p.m. April 21- 23, 28- 30 and 2 p.m. April 24, May 1
Where: University Theatre, Radio Television Film and Performing Arts Building,1179 Union Circle, Denton, Texas
Cost: Tickets cost $7.50 for students, UNT faculty/staff and senior citizens; and $10 for adults. Audience members can purchase tickets at the box office, which is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and one hour before each performance at the Radio Television Film and Performing Arts Building. For more information, call 940-565-2428, email dat-boxoffice@unt.edu or visit the Department of Dance and Theatre online.
Parking: Parking is free directly behind the RTFP Building Friday through Sunday. For more information about parking on the UNT campus please visit: UNT Parking and Transportation online.
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The University of North Texas is putting its own twist on Shakespeare's classic comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. The play will feature a different time period and a diverse cast, and some roles will be in different genders than originally written.
The Department of Dance and Theatre will present the show at 7:30 p.m. April 21-23, 28-30 and 2 p.m. April 24, May 1 at the University Theatre, Radio Television Film and Performing Arts Building.
"It will be a new experience to see Shakespeare presented in that time period," junior theatre major Austin Lyles said. "It's going to be extremely entertaining."
The story focuses on Sir John Falstaff (Lyles), who comes to the town of Windsor to seduce two wives – Mrs. Page (sophomore theatre major Amanda Canady) and Mrs. Ford (sophomore theatre major Jenna Davis-Jones). But the husbands catch whiff of the plans. Soon, the whole town is caught up in romantic shenanigans.
Director Valerie Hauss-Smith, an adjunct professor of theatre at UNT, is setting the play in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
"It was interesting because it was during the beginning of the women's right movement," Hauss-Smith said. "Women were affirming themselves demanding the right to vote. They were starting to ride bicycles, so they were starting to wear bloomers."
These "new women" brought pushback from older people, like Falstaff.
"He's stuck in his ways about gender," Lyles said. "It changes why women are taking things into their own hands."
One of those women is the "host of the Garter Inn" – a role originally written for a man.
The host, played by senior theater major Tori Windham, is a business owner who meddles in people's affairs and is a bit mischievous, but with good intentions.
"She's typically one of the guys but she's smarter than anyone else around her," she said.
But it's not just the plot that Windham likes about performing Shakespeare.
"His words are so much fun," she said. "You hear it in a new way every day. It never ceases to amaze me how many meanings he can put into one phrase."
And the story has a good moral -- to value and not underestimate people.
"If you love to laugh, if you like to be entertained, if you want a night off from seeing from the TV, it's going to be a great way to escape the world," Windham said.