Great Performances: Merry Wives

Rochester, NY – Recorded summer 2021 at The Public Theater’s beloved Free Shakespeare in the Park, Great Performances presents playwright Jocelyn Bioh’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedic spinoff The Merry Wives of Windsor. Starring Jacob Ming-Trent as Falstaff, Pascale Armand as Madam Ekua Page and Susan Kelechi Watson as Madam Nkechi Ford, it premieres on WXXI-TV on Friday, May 20, 2022 at 9 p.m.

Directed by The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali, the production is set in South Harlem where immigrants of the West African diaspora are living side-by-side with their African American neighbors. A New York story about tricks of the heart, featuring the Bard’s most beloved comedic characters, this farce tells the story of the charlatan Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a celebration of Black joy, laughter and vitality.