Washington Post
- Highly Recommended
"...Ivania Stack's exuberant and ever-changing costumes, including bright prints for the stylish wives and aging-hipster threads for Falstaff, underscore the dynamism of this Harlem community. The garb becomes even more expressive when, near the play's climax, the characters dress up as spirits: Evoking the pageantry of West African festivals, the haunting disguises, including masks, deliver valuable catharsis. (Ashleigh King choreographs.)"
DC Theater Arts
- Highly Recommended
"...In their online videos discussing Merry Wives on Shakespeare Theatre Company's website, playwright Jocelyn Bioh and director Taylor Reynolds speak of wanting to convey the "joy" and "vibrancy" of the varied African diaspora community in contemporary South Harlem. Bioh's adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor hits those marks in every respect."
MetroWeekly
- Recommended
"...A cute, warm-hearted adaptation, Jocelyn Bioh's Merry Wives grabs Shakespeare by the breeches and bum-rushes him into the 21st century and the boisterous mix of Harlem's West African community. Although the Bard's play is certainly here (the program notes tell us Bioh has kept more than 90 percent of the language), there is such a strong sense of the African performance tradition that it feels quite a bit more like the lively telling of a traditional fable. There is a certain charm to this concept and execution, but it also brings a few challenges."
Washington City Paper
- Highly Recommended
"...New York-based director Taylor Reynolds was last spotted in D.C. bringing Fat Ham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rewrite of the mammoth revenge tragedy Hamlet as a joyously Black, queer, and short backyard comedy, to Studio Theatre. Reynolds' latest relocation of a William Shakespeare play to present-day America, the Harlem-set Merry Wives, doesn't reimagine The Merry Wives of Windsor quite as radically as Fat Ham interrogated its ancient source, but the changes are still significant. The program claims playwright Jocelyn Bioh has kept 90 percent of the original text intact, but a lot of archaic jokes are out and mentions of jollof rice and other culturally specific signifiers are in."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...The point of The Merry Wives of Windsor was to give Jack Falstaff a bit more time on the stage, beyond the bounds of Shakespeare's history plays, where his comic genius is hemmed in by the serious matter of battles for land and succession. The character is a big fat stew of lechery, swindling, boastful lies, and yes, actual fat. What's not to love? Even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I demanded more, according to theatre legend."
MD Theatre Guide
- Highly Recommended
"...When you walk into a Jocelyn Bioh play, you don't just enter a theater, you enter a vibe. Before the lights dim, Afrobeats fill the space: Burna Boy, Wizkid, Asake, Fireboy, Tems, and Ayra Starr. The music instantly grounds the audience, setting the tone for Bioh's adaptation (of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor") that builds on stage in the regional premiere of "Merry Wives" at Shakespeare Theatre Company."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...Perhaps even more remarkably, the play maintains a warm glow around these common, everyday themes. Most Shakespeare, even his comedies, deals with complex moral questions and decisions that change the trajectory of a life or even a nation. Again, even in the comedies, themes of betrayal, fear, and dishonesty dramatize the events and raise the stakes. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, this dark side is almost entirely missing."
