‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ opens in Madison

For the holiday season, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey presents a play centered on a fat man with a beard.

No, no that one.

The plus-sized, hirsute character in question: Falstaff, the character of huge appetites who dominated the two parts of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.”

But the play now running in Madison is neither of those. It is “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” the comedy that Shakespeare reportedly wrote because Queen Elizabeth I wanted another play with Falstaff, who was killed off in “Henry V.”

“Some people will say I’m not fat enough, old enough, or debauched enough,” says David Andrew Macdonald, who portrays Falstaff in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

In fact, Macdonald — a handsome actor who is neither bearded nor big-bellied — admits that he did not initially see himself as Falstaff when he was approached by Bonne J. Monte, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre and director of “Merry Wives.”

“I told Bonnie that I wasn’t the classic Falstaff. But I jumped at the chance because it’s such a great character,” says Macdonald, who has appeared in several productions at the Shakespeare Theatre since the early 1990s.

Though “Merry Wives” was written after the three “Henry” plays, it is really a prequel, with a younger Sir John Falstaff. That makes a significant difference, according to Macdonald.

“This is a Falstaff who isn’t as dissolute,” he says. “He’s a little more youthful, a little more agile. He’s only about two or three years into his ‘I’m eating and drinking too much’ phase.”

Macdonald says that “Merry Wives of Windsor” sometimes receives little love from serious Shakespeare buffs. “A lot of critics take it as a light and fluffy piece.”

But he argues that the play is more than a simple sex farce. He points out elements of commentary on the changing social structure of Shakespeare’s day.

The “merry wives” of the title are Mistress Page (played by Saluda Camp) and Mistress Ford (Caralyn Kozlowski), two women married to well-to-do members of the rising mercantile class.

Falstaff, in need of funds, tries to woo both wives to wheedle money from them. They discover his plan and set out to ensnare him in deceptions of their own. Complications ensue. (This is Shakespeare, after all.)

“I see this play as a skewering of the changing class system,” Macdonald says. “The middle class was on the rise, and they wanted nothing to do with the ruling class.”

In Macdonald’s interpretation, Master Page and Master Ford — who exemplify that new middle class — have no need of a ruling class to protect them because they were wealthy enough to raise their own army.

In addition, Macdonald notes that “Merry Wives of Windsor” has fun with the concept of “droit du seigneur,” under which a king — or any noble — may have sexual relations with the woman of his choice, even on the night of her wedding to another man.

That applies to Falstaff, as unappetizing as he might be, Macdonald says. “He’s still a knight.”

But social commentary aside, “Merry Wives of Windsor” works primarily as an enjoyable bawdy comedy. “It’s fun to see a romp like this,” Macdonald says.

What is more, the play is suitable for the holidays. It has references to cold weather, and it ends with a spirit of forgiveness. “It’s just right for this season,” concludes Macdonald.

THE MERRY WIVES

OF WINDSOR

WHEN: Through Dec. 27

WHERE: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave., Madison

TICKETS: $15 to $70. Student rush tickets available half-hour before performance

INFO: 973-408-5600 or www.ShakespeareNJ.org