Some people think of Shakespeare as stuffy, old-fashioned, and difficult to understand. That’s because many people have only experienced Shakespeare’s plays in a classroom, reading cramped text out of a dusty book. The Public Theater aims to change that perception – they stage fun, modern productions of Shakespeare’s plays every summer, and then give out tickets for free. Though the theater remained dark last year, this year Free Shakespeare in the Park returned with a production of “Merry Wives,” a fresh take on “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Writer Jocelyn Bioh moved the setting to South Harlem, in a community of West African immigrants. The cast, which is made up of exclusively Black actors, recites Shakespeare’s words in a variety of accents. Rather than the clipped British tones that you frequently hear from those reading Shakespeare, the characters in “Merry Wives” speak in the cadences of Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, and New York City. Major scenes in the show take place in a Senegalese hair braiding salon, a laundromat, and a city park, rather than in a manor house and its grounds, making the show feel firmly rooted in present-day Harlem. The show is riotously funny, beautifully staged, and superbly acted, and is a fantastic example of Shakespeare for a modern audience.
