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The Festival Players from England

The Merry Wives of Windsor
The roguish and foolish Knight, Falstaff, schemes to woo two married women to get his hands on their husbands' money, but the wiley Wives of Windsor are more than a match for him.
The Festival Players Theatre Company brings you this hilarious and colourful comedy in an all-male, fast paced, costumed production A summer feast of farce!
(2 hours + Interval)

NOK 450,-/390,- with season card/ 100,- under 25 years old 14 July at 19.30 Theatre in the Court Yard Buy ticket
NOK 980,- 14 July at 19.30 Theatre in the Court Yard and 3-course dinner in the Tea Room (ca. 15 min. after the play) Buy ticket
NOK 1490,- 14 July at 19.30 Theatre in the Court Yard, 3-course dinner in the Tea Room (ca. 15 min. after the play) and accommodation incl. breakfast on the Home Farm. Buy ticket
NOK 890,- 14 July at 19.30 Theatre in the Court Yard and dinner in the Greenhouse (good, local food) at 17.00 Buy ticket
NOK 450,-/390,- with season card/ 100,- under 25 years old 15 July at 13.30 Theatre in the Court Yard Buy ticket
NOK 650,- 15 July at 13.30 Theatre in the Court Yard and 2-course lunch in the Greenhouse at 16.00 Buy ticket
NOK 980,- 14 July at 19.30 Theatre in the Court Yard and 3-course dinner in the Castle Kitchen (ca. 15 min. after the play) Buy ticket

About the play:

Acclaimed Festival Players Theatre Company tours the country this summer with a dynamic all-male outdoor production of Shakespeare’s feast of farce – The Merry Wives of Windsor 

Shakespeare is the nation’s (arguably the world’s) greatest playwright and The Festival Players Theatre Company is proud to present The Merry Wives of Windsor, the only one of his comedies to be set in England. This theatre company from Gloucestershire, which has been touring professional outdoor Shakespeare productions for over 30 years, is taking the play across the UK and into Europe from May 13th – August 29th.

Presented in full costume, an all-male company brings the fun of this the most farcical of all of Shakespeare’s plays, bustling with colourful characters and full of intrigues and physical gags, in a crystal-clear and fast-paced 2-hour production.

The players will perform 75 shows over the summer across England, Scotland, Wales and the Isles of Scilly, and as far afield as Belgium, Berlin, the Netherlands and Norway, at an increasingly varied number of locations from stately homes to London commons, Scottish castles to English village greens, island botanical gardens to Roman amphitheatres.

The story centres on Falstaff, the ‘Fat Knight’ who also appears in Henry IV as drinking buddy of young Prince Henry. Indeed, in 1602 it was referred to as ‘a most pleasant and excellent comedy of Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor’. Down on his luck and staying in Windsor, the roguish and foolish Falstaff plans to seduce not one but two married women so he can get his hands on their husbands’ money. However, the wiley wives of Windsor prove more than a match for him in this hilarious comedy. The play has less verse than any of Shakespeare’s other plays, around only 12%, but this has not stopped it from being the subject of several operas including Falstaff by Antonio Salieri (1799), Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi (1893), and Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1929).

Festival Players Artistic Director Michael Dyer has brought the play to a manageable length of 2 hours in the company’s trademark accessible format. Says Dyer: “Our shows are an amalgam of energy, entertainment and colour and we aim to make them clear and transparent, as well as keeping them short for the comfort of our patrons. We set out to take audiences of all ages on a journey and make them feel very much part of the production.”

A small cast of six play multiple roles demanding quick costume changes, as well as performing as singers and musicians. This gives an exciting opportunity for the actors to show their energy and versatility. It will be directed by Worcestershire based Dyer, former director of Cornwall’s Minack Open Air Theatre.

This will be Dyer’s 13th all-male production in a row for the Players. “It is of course totally authentic – we are following in the footsteps of Shakespeare’s own Globe Theatre when all roles were taken by men. The Players has built a reputation for strong, all-male shows over the past twelve years.”

Stratford-based actor Mark Spriggs is returning to the company this summer. In last year’s tour of Hamlet he played Claudius, and in 2015 he was a memorable Falstaff in Henry IV. The Festival Players Theatre Company is delighted that he will once again become the glorious figure of fun that is Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved creations. Falstaff is boisterous, lively, cowardly and funny, but is also a scoundrel and occasionally a thief. According to theatrical legend, Queen Elizabeth I so liked the character in Henry IV that she commanded William Shakespeare to write another play with him in it, showing him ‘in love’. The Merry Wives of Windsor was the hilarious result.

Newcomers to the company this year are William Ross-Fawcett, Samuel Griffiths, Stephen Horncastle, Connor Reed and Paul Valentine.

Music has been specially written for The Merry Wives of Windsor by folk star Johnny Coppin (front man of the cult Seventies folk-rock group Decameron). Gloucestershire-based Coppin, who regularly tours the folk and acoustic circuit, adds a special ingredient with his original songs and instrumentals involving all the cast.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

The roguish and foolish Knight, Falstaff, schemes to woo two married women to get his hands on their husbands’ money, but the wiley Wives of Windsor are more than a match for him.

The Festival Players Theatre Company brings you this hilarious and colourful comedy in an all-male, fast paced, costumed production A summer feast of farce!
(2 hours + Interval)

Borggårdsteater på originalspråket (framført tydeleg og godt) med flotte kostymar og Slottet frå 1665 som tidsrette kulissar.

How to get tickets:

  • Please enter the desired numbers of tickets and an email address we may send your tickets to.
  • Pay safely with VISA or MasterCard
  • Show QR code from the email on a digital device upon arrival.

If the event is sold out you may sign up for a waiting list. Purchased tickets are not refundable.

 

Available tickets:

We have created different types of packages that includes dinner and accommodation:

  • Concert
  • Concert and 2-course dinner in the Garden Café & Greenhouses in Kitchen- & Herb Garden (before or after the event). Nice, local food.
  • Concert and 3-course dinner in the castle Have room at the Palace from 1665 ca. 15 minutes after the concert.
  • Concert, 3-course dinner in the castle Have room at the Palace from 1665 ca. 15 minutes after the concert and accommodation with breakfast, slip on Rosendal Avlsgård & Fruehus (the most used room has a sink, whereas shared shower and toilet are in the hallway).

If one of the tickets are sold out, there may still be other kinds of tickets available for the same event. Please see events list.

Table Setting for Castle Dining and accommodation in Avlsgård
We consider tickets purchased at the same email address as a group that would like to sit together for Dinner. If your tickets include accommodation, please send us an email to info@baroniet.no to specify the number of single and double rooms. The same applies if you have ordered tickets including dinner with different email addresses. Thank you for telling us in advance, this will help us to provide good service for you during your stay.

Season tickets with discounts

We have season tickets which include:

  • discount on several events
  • free tour of the castle from 1665 throughout the season
  • free admission Rosendal Have throughout the season
  • free admission to art exhibitions throughout the season

Season tickets with discounts available here: available cards are for one person or family (incl. 2 adults and your own children/grandchildren under 18)

Still got problems?

Please contact us if you are unable to complete your purchase, and we will help you. Please call/text +47 48 00 64 73 for help. After receiving a confirmation that we have reserved tickets for you, you can use Vipps: 96110 or transfer money to our bank account 3460 07 51753. Please write which tickets the transfer is payment for.

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  • The event might be sold out even if the home page button is not updated with "sold out". The appearing message "Beklager utsolgt" means "Sorry, sold out". You may send an email to info@baroniet.no to be in a waiting list. In case of extra tickets we will handle the waiting list in the order of time and date on the emails.
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Any error messages regarding the tickets, please let us know by calling +47 48 00 64 73.

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