DIRECTOR’S NOTE
When the Alcott approached me about directing this year’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, I was both excited and incredibly nervous. I was introduced to the Alcott by Susan Proctor, an amazing director and an all-around lovely person. She had taught theatre at Rockhurst University, where I attended.
Two years ago, she told me she was directing Two Gentlemen of Verona, and asked me to come audition. Performing in that play was so much fun (and clearly I made a good impression since I was asked back)! Following up a class act like Susan is incredibly intimidating. I don’t have the experience and knowledge that Susan has, and directing this play was definitely a challenge for me. I think I have learned a lot, and I’m so excited to return to the Alcott again, if they’ll have me.
Merry Wives of Windsor seemed like the perfect choice for this year. It’s a comedy that centers around an arrogant, self-important man getting some well-deserved comeuppance at the hands of women whom he would have used for his own gain. After mulling over some ideas for settings, we landed on the Old West. I have to say, in the beginning, I had no idea just how fitting the Old West is for Shakespeare. The further we got into working on the show, the more it felt like Merry Wives of Windsor was made to be a West- ern. (Or maybe we were just blinded by how much fun we were having with the accents!)
We have all worked so hard to in a relatively short amount of time, and I think we’ve put together a pretty good show! I hope you enjoy it!
SPECIAL THANKS
Creating a piece of theatre is a labor of love. It takes a lot of time and many hands. We are all so grateful for the people who helped make this play hap- pen.
Thank you:
CAST AND CREW
MISTRESS FORD Erin Gilmore
FORD, her husband Bethany Phillips
Their servants:
JOHN Sam Monthey
ROBERT Jackie Kabbes
MISTRESS PAGE Shawna Hogan
PAGE, her husband Addy Monthey
ANNE, their daughter Kimberly Dyck
DOCTOR CAIUS, a French doctor Thomas Fowler MISTRESS QUICKLY, the doctor’s housekeeper Mackenzie Larson JOHN RUGBY, the doctor’s manservant Devon O’Connor SIR HUGH Evans, a yokel parson Leigh Ann Monthey HOST of the Garter Inn Jackie Kabbes
Sir John FALSTAFF, an impoverished knight Spencer Dyck Falstaff’s servants:
BARDOLPH Devon O’Connor
PISTOL Sam Monthey
NYM Kimberly Dyck
FENTON, a suitor to Anne Page Devon O’Connor
Robert SHALLOW, a Sheriff Joselyn Campbell
Abraham SLENDER, Shallow’s nephew Bethany Phillips SIMPLE, Slender’s servant Sam Monthey
Chris Parker-Green and Chuck Green for your selfless work in keeping the Alcott going.
Mackenzie Larson for working on set pieces.
Shawna Hogan and Devon O’Con- nor for their research.
The Monthey family for helping to source so many props.
Erin Gilmore for curating music.
The American Opera Studio for lending us set pieces and props. (Please like them on Facebook and check out their website americanoperastudio.com)
Micheal Rose for running sound.
and Gail Robertson for building us a buck basket.
ABOUT THE CAST
Addison Monthey is making her Kansas City theatri- cal debut. She currently attends Indian Woods Middle School and enjoys her classes in performance and choir. She is enjoying her gender bending roll as Master Page. Having never before been a wealthy husband, she is challenged by the role but she is excited by the opportunity. Addy is glad you are here and mustache you a question.
Bethany Phillips has had a long love affair with the theatre. From her youth, forcing her younger siblings perform in plays, to today, directing and performing in Merry Wives of Windsor. By day, Bethany is a content editor working on study materials for people going into the health care field. By evening and weekends, she is an avid performer and artist. She has been singing with the American Opera Studio for 5 years and has worked with the Alcott Arts Center for the past 2 years. Merry Wives of Windsor is her first time as a solo-director. She begs that you judge her gently and laugh extra loud to stroke her ego.
Devon O’Connor is very excited for this opportunity to return to the Alcott Arts Center as a veteran of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot! In this production, she is playing Bardolph, Rugby, and Mistress Fenton and has previously acted in “Two People of Verona” and “Shakespeare Charcuterie” at AAC. Her other recent performances include “The 39 Steps” at Bridge Street Theater and “42nd Street” with Gladstone Theatre in the Park, but she has been consistently acting since childhood. Offstage, she is a high school social studies teacher with aspirations to one day be a middle school principal, a mother, and also the Queen of Fiji. She is a Merry Wife and Merry Dog Mom of Gladstone, MO.
Erin Gilmore is excited to be back on stage at the Alcott Center Shakespeare in the Parking Lot! She received her masters at Emporia State University in Vocal Performance and will graduate with a masters in musicology at UMKC in May. Most recently, she was seen as Stewardess Hutchinson in the Barn Player’s production of Titanic, The Musical, Lady Silvia in The Two People of Verona with the Alcott Center, Mercedes in Carmen with Landlocked Opera, and Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw with Red River Lyric Opera. An active performer and teacher, she resides in Overland Park with her husband, John, their son Ezra, new baby Evelyn and their pets.
Jackie Kabbes is happy to return to acting after a 10-year hiatus caused by college graduation and pretending to be a grown-up. When not at her day
job as an accountant for Plastic Packaging Technolo- gies, she enjoys playing roller derby, reading, and watching Hell’s Kitchen and snuggling her two dog children. She’d like to thank her husband for putting up with her endless sarcasm and nerding out with Shakespeare humor.
Joselyn Campbell has worked with Alcott Art Center many times. She has been in several productions with them. She also performed in many plays throughout her childhood years starting at the age of twelve.
When not performing, she works as a Night Auditor for a high end hotel. She also enjoys singing and being outdoors hiking, fishing. and sitting around a bonfire or firepit just listening to music with her son and fiancé. She would like to thank Bethany for allowing her to be part of this production and Alcott Art Center for their continued efforts to promote creativity in their community.
Kimberly Dyck has theater in her blood. Taking every opportunity that came her way to be in shows in her youth, specifically musical theater. This will be her first performance in a Shakespeare play and her first performance in 5 years! Her roles are one of the sneaky rogues Nym, and sweet beauty bachelorette Anne Page. She is excited to be able to have the opportunity to be on stage once again, having fun, getting to have hilarious hijinks and an obnoxious southern drawl.
Leigh Ann Monthey has done quite a bit of theater, quite a long time ago. It has been 25 years since she has been in any productions. In her youth, she worked on productions at the Omaha Community Theater, Lincoln Community Theater and the Lied Center of Performance in Lincoln, Nebraska. When not contem- plating cheese and pippins as Sir Hugh Evans, she is a Merry Wife of Overland Park, a mother and a doctor of audiology.
MacKenzie Larson was born and raised in Nebraska. She went to Wayne State College in Wayne Nebraska to duel major in Drafting/planning/design and Construction Management with a minor in Theatre. She has performed in numerous small skits, over 26 theatrical plays/musicals, 4 independent films and 1 independent web series/tv show. This is her first stage theatrical performance in Kansas City! When not on the stage she is at her day job as a Structural Steel Construction Drafting Detailer for BlueScope Construction. She is also a Roller Derby Player, Kansas City Sporting Soccer Fan and loves to play boardgames, D&D and other RPG games.
Samantha Monthey is currently a sophomore at Shawnee Mission South High School. You may have seen her work at the Indian Woods Middle School production of Rock of Ages or Footloose. Or her groundbreaking summer camp performance as rodent number 3 in Rats! She is excited to be able to stretch her theatrical chops as a purportedly pick pocketing rouge, Pistol, a suffering buck basket carrier and a servant, Simple by her name.
Shawna Hogan is performing on stage for the first time! Though this isn’t her first time doing character work. She has been involved with LARP for several years. She also spends her Monday evenings playing table top roleplaying games. She is currently starting a business to help busy or uncreative ;) parents make their Elf on the Shelf a magical experience.
Spencer Dyck had no idea that Falstaff was such a large part of the play when Bethany put out a Facebook blast looking for someone to play him. It has been quite awhile since he performed on stage. However, he has done his fair share of LARP and table top roleplay.
Spencer hopes when he grows up to be a cantankerous old man, yelling nonsense at youths.
Thomas Fowler is a jack of all trades and a man of the people. He was introduced to Bethany through the American Opera Studio, with which they both perform. Bethany dragged him into this after making him do different accents while sitting backstage during their Broadway Night performance. Ask him about his Donald Duck!
ABOUT THE ALCOTT
The L.M. Alcott Art Center, or Alcott Arts Center, has been in exis- tence now for seventeen years as a self-sustaining Arts Foundation. The Alcott has awarded grants and scholarships, taught classes in several areas of the Arts, curated over Three Hundred Sixty Five Art Exhibits and produced several plays at the Alcott Arts Center includ- ing 10 productions of Alcott’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot Series.
Alcott has become a regional Arts Organization with interaction of Artists, Actors, teachers and sponsors from all over the area and country. The LMAACF self-sustaining (due to memberships, dona- tions, fundraisers, sponsors and our programs) but it has been oper- ated and ran by unpaid/volunteer staff for all of the seventeen years in service. There have been well over 40,500 hours of donated time given to this unique organization.
Play Synopsis
William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor is a rip-roaring situational comedy that brings together a lively cast of characters, one of which is a recur- ring personality in two other of The Bard’s notable stageplays.
In the primary plot of the production, Sir John Falstaff (as played by Spencer Dyck), desperate for money, decides that he will attempt to prey upon and swindle two wealthy housewives (as played by Shawna Hoagan and Erin Gilmore). It takes the two friends approximately fifteen seconds of confer- ence to realize the schemes of the girthy knight and to hatch one of their own to make a farce of the gentleman who is truly in love with little more than his morning draught of sack (which traditionally is Spanish wine) and his purse.
As the plot is fulfilled, the wealthy husbands of Windsor, Master Page (as played by Addison Monthey, making her debut) and Master Ford (as played by our director, Bethany Phillips) are blissfully ignorant - at least in the case of the former. Master Ford, however, overcome by jealousy, sets his own plot in motion to try to catch his wife in the act of infidelity in the most hilarious way imaginable - through the use of a less-than-clever disguise. This com- edy of errors transpires throughout the course of the stage play as Master Ford becomes increasingly paranoid with his wife, who is, of course, nothing if not faithful.
Others included in the stratagem include the venerable pastor Sir Hugh Evans (as played by Leanne Monthey), the old-timey lawyer, Master Shallow (as played by Joselyn Cambell), the merry Mistress Quickly (as played by Mackenzie Larson), the host of the Garter Inn (as played by Jackie Kabbes), a band of rogues including Pistol (as played by Sam Monthey), Nym (as played by Kimberly Dyck), and Bardolph (as played by Devon O’Connor).
Together, this unlikely crew of companions hoodwink Sir John and beat him at his own game, thereby making him, as he says, “an ass”.
As the primary plot ensues, a subplot of equally humorous characters be- comes apparent as Mistress Anne Page, daughter of the Pages, (as played by Kimberly Dyck), tries to find love from a series of suitors: Master Slender,
a generally uninterested and simple man (as played by Bethany Phillips), Master Doctor Caius, a French physician (as played by Thomas Fowler), and Mistress Fenton, daughter of a wealthy neighboring landowner (as played by Devon O’Connor). As Shakespeare is no stranger to strong female characters, love certainly always wins out in the end, as none of the women of Windsor surrender any of their authority.
The genius of William Shakespeare is on full display with this comedy and is even more laudable when one considers that it took him somewhere between two days and two weeks to write the entire script - as rumors vary based on the source. This feat, however, isn’t the only rumor surrounding this tale as it is said that the play was written due to a request from Queen Elizabeth herself because she loved the character John Falstaff when he
debuted in Henry V and Henry IV, Part 1. Many speculate that the Queen had desired a play about the lovelife of Sir John, but the Bard couldn’t help but poke fun at the knight when writing him into The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Shakespeare’s genius isn’t the only intellect showcased with this particular production as the choices made by the director, Bethany Phillips, are also brilliant in their own right. As you will find, the direction taken with this rendition is one of the “Wild West” variety; a decision made as many of the lines and actions simply beg for a southern drawl. Other choices include gender-bending roles to fit a more modern theme (though Shakespeare himself was known to do the same as many men traditionally played wom- en’s parts), cutting lines and scenes that could take away from or cause con- fusion regarding the overall plotline of the show, and making some minor script adaptations to meet the needs of our modified characters. The result is simply dazzling and will undoubtedly transport you to simpler days of classic Americana, high-noon duels, and saloon meetups in the town square.
The Alcott Arts Center is extremely proud to present to you William Shake- speare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor! From the cast and crew, please enjoy the show!
Scene 1
Scene breakdown
PART ONE
Scene 7
Dr. Caius responds furiously when Sir Hugh fails to meet him for their duel. The Host calms his anger by offering to take him to Anne Page.
Scene 8
Justice Shallow and his nephew Slender accompany Sir Hugh the par- son to the Pages’ home. There they meet Sir John Falstaff, whom Shallow
accuses of killing his deer, while Slender accuses Falstaff’s men of robbing him. Falstaff meets Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, and Slender clumsily attempts to court Anne Page.
Scene 2
Sir Hugh sends Slender’s servant Simple with a letter to Mistress Quickly asking her to intercede with Anne Page on Slender’s behalf.
Scene 3
Falstaff, in desperate need of funds, dismisses his servant Bardolph, who enters the employ of the Host of the Garter. Falstaff plans to seduce Mistress Ford and Mistress Page to gain access to their husbands’ wealth. When Pistol and Nym refuse to act as his go-betweens, he dismisses them from his service. They plot revenge against him.
Scene 4
Delivering Sir Hugh’s letter to Mistress Quickly, Simple is discovered by her employer Dr. Caius (another of Anne’s suitors). Furious with Sir Hugh for interfering on behalf of Slender, Dr. Caius writes Sir Hugh challenging him to a duel.
Scene 5
Mistress Page and Mistress Ford compare their love letters from Falstaff and plot revenge against him. Pistol and Nym tell Ford and Page of Falstaff’s de- signs on their wives, and Ford’s jealousy explodes. He arranges to disguise himself as a man called Brook and approach Falstaff. The Host and Shallow set off with Page to find Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh, who are being kept apart through the Host’s deliberate misdirections.
Scene 6
Falstaff receives Mistress Ford’s invitation to visit; he then accepts “Brook’s” money in exchange for his promise to compromise Mistress Ford’s reputa- tion. Ford plans to trap Falstaff with Mistress Ford.
Page, Shallow, and Slender join Sir Hugh, who is waiting to fight Dr. Caius. When the Host brings Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh together, the two, prevented from dueling, reconcile.
Scene 9
Mistress Ford and Mistress Page begin their revenge against Falstaff. As Falstaff joins Mistress Ford, Mistress Page enters with news that Ford is approaching. Falstaff climbs into a large laundry basket and is hidden under dirty clothes and then carried out by servants instructed to throw the bas- ket’s contents into the river. As Ford searches in vain for Falstaff, the wives plot further revenge against both men.
PART 2
Scene 1
Attempting to court Anne Page, Fenton is interrupted first by his rival Slen- der and then by a hostile Master and Mistress Page.
Scene 2
Falstaff agrees once again to visit Mistress Ford and again informs “Brook” of his plans.
Scene 3
Visiting Mistress Ford, Falstaff is again interrupted by Mistress Page, again with news of Ford’s threatening approach. This time the women effect Falstaff’s escape by dressing him as an old woman hated by Ford. This dis- guise gains Falstaff a beating from Ford.
Scene 4
Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, having fully disclosed their dealings with Falstaff to their husbands, conspire with them to humiliate Falstaff publicly that night in Windsor Forest. Master and Mistress Page each plan to take ad- vantage of the occasion to marry their daughter to the suitor of their choice.
Scene 5
Mistress Quickly approaches Falstaff with another invitation, this time to meet Mistress Ford and Mistress Page in the park at midnight.
Scene 6
The Host is asked to arrange for a vicar to marry Anne to Fenton that night.
Scene 7
Falstaff, having agreed to meet Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, promises success to “Brook.”
Scene 8
Dr. Caius waits to elope with Anne Page. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford follow their plan to torment Falstaff.
Scene 9
Slender prepares to elope with Anne Page.
Scene 10
Sir Hugh and the “fairies” approach.
Scene 11
Falstaff is tormented by the “fairies” and then publicly humiliated. Slender and Dr. Caius enter in turn to report that each has been deceived into elop- ing with a disguised boy instead of Anne Page. Finally Fenton and Anne Page enter, married. Fenton and Falstaff are forgiven, and the party moves to the home of Master and Mistress Page.