Shakespeare Goes Rogue – ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’

Posted on August 17, 2026 by Karen Nowosad
The cast of Rogue Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo by Avery Brunkus

Running now through August 23, 2026 at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is a Bard classic comedy: The Merry Wives of Windsor. However, there is more to it than that. This production is titled Rogue Shakespeare:The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Perhaps its because it has been such a hot summer this year, or maybe audiences are just searching for shows that make them laugh. Whatever is the reason, this play cures whatever you are looking for.

On Opening Night, the audience laughter and appreciation was evident. Conversations at the after party were filled with discussion about how could they pull this remarkable piece of theater off in just six days? I have come to learn that actors are remarkable people when it comes to working their craft. They receive a script and it appears to me that they can picture how it will look onstage before they even come in for the first meeting. Years of experience do help. That was part of what came through in this show. But there were also some newer cast members. Whatever the formula is, it worked and it worked well. This show is one you want to come to see. It is a very enjoyable visit to the theater.

But Rogue Shakespeare? Let’s examine what that means.

Rogue Shakespeare: What Is it?

According to information provided in the printed program, Rogue Shakespeare is “theatre at its most daring.” There is no Director and the actors received only 6 days of rehearsals before going live in front of an audience. The performers come in memorized and they dive straight into the work, “trusting their instincts and the brilliance of Shakespeare’s language to guide them.”

Speaking with Artistic Director Brian B. Crowe about this unique approach to theater, he explained that there were some guidelines given to the cast. These included items like selection of props, costumes, and use of the stage. But the freedom to allow the cast the freedom to explore how to present the action was prevalent. They use Shakespeare’s language and follow the story of the play. But their own touches became engraved into the show.

The Merry Wives of Windsor – The Story

The Merry Wives of Windsor is classified as one of Shakespeare’s comedies. It is thought to have been written in the late 1500’s and published in 1602. It focuses around the actions of Sir John Falstaff who decides he needs help with his financial state. So he sets his sights on two married women: Alice Ford and Margaret Page.

Erin Partin as Alice Ford and Ka-Ling Cheunas Margaret Page. Photo by Avery Brunkus.

He writes to each of them the same love letter with only a name change inserted to “customize” it to each one.But the two ladies get together to read the letters and decide to take matters into their own hands to deceive Falstaff. And that’s where the fun begins.

There is a Lot of Fun in this Production

The fun starts with Jeffrey Bender’s superb portrayal of Falstaff. His costume is suitably outrageous as he has has several large pillow type items tucked into his shirt to give him a very fat look. It would be fair to say that most of the scenes dealing Falstaff are hilarious due to Bender’s work on this character. Some of the best scenes occur when he tries to get up and off of an orange lounger. Not only is he awkward, but Bender makes it look like it is hopeless that Falstaff will be able to get up.

Another funny moment is when Falstaff sits on Alice Ford’s lap in attempt to be closer to her. The pain of his weight on her is evident.

Jeffrey M. Bender as Sir John Falstaff and
Erin Partin as Alice Ford. Photo by Avery Brunkus.

What would a Shakespeare comedy be without disguises? Michael Stewart Allen playing Frank Ford comes up with one of the funniest of the show. The facial disguise goes on in several pieces. Allen takes his time allowing the audience to take in each step resulting in many laughs and a crazy look that includes a costume suitable for a Russian play. Here he is shown with Falstaff as they talk about the action being prepared.

Michael Stewart Allen as Frank Ford and Jeffrey M. Bender as Sir John Falstaff. Photo by Avery
Brunkus.

The use of the laundry basket to move Falstaff out of the house is used in several scenes. The two men carrying it have an easy time of it until Falstaff goes in. The looks on their faces as they try to move it with him in it is a perfect humorous moment of disbelief. And of course after he is out of it and they are asked to carry it again, their disbelief at how light it is brings good moments of humor to the show.

A Play with a Satisfying Ending and a Thanks to the Cast

After another humiliating event for Falstaff which involves another crazy costume, the entire group reconcile. This play was written over 400 years ago but even back then, William Shakespeare was willing to give credence to the ability women had to keep things running well with their marriages and their families.

This production relies entirely on the vision of the cast who work with the creatives. The actors demonstrate their knowledge and skill by creating an absolutely marvelous production. The talent to bring in a memorized script but create the sets, costumes, and winning action is not easy to do. But it is evident to see that this group worked hard making the show a delightful adventure for audiences.

Cast of Rogue Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor

  • Michael Stewart Allen – Frank Ford
  • Jeffrey M. Bender – Sir John Falstaff
  • Emily S. Chang – Anne Page / John Rugby
  • Ka-Ling Cheung – Margaret Page
  • Cole Henry Gilder – William Page / Abraham Slender
  • Hassiem Muhammad – Fenton / Robert Shallow
  • Ryan N. Murray – Nym / Peter Simple
  • Erin Partin – Alice Ford
  • David Shih – George Page
  • Christopher Sutton – Bardolph / Doctor Caius
  • Patrick Toon – Sir Hugh Evans
  • Alison Weller – Host / Mistress Quickly
  • Directed By No One

Special Events

Symposium Series #1: Tuesday, August 18 following the performance

  • A lively post-show chat with the cast.

Symposium Series #2: Saturday, August 22 following the matinee performance

  • A lively post-show chat with the cast.

To Go to the Show

Rogue Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Window runs now through August 23, 2026 at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ.

Purchase tickets online through their website or by contacting the Box Office By Phone: (973) 408-5600 or by E-mail: BoxOffice@ShakespeareNJ.org

Run time for this show is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes including a 15 minute intermission.

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Mala Aria – A Moving Story of Family Love as They Cope with Disease

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Karen Nowosad
Nazira Cisse, Eugene Nesmith and Shiro Kihagi. Premiere Stages 2026 production of MALA ARIA by Gloria Majule. Photo by Mike Peters.

Mala Aria – Premiere Stages at Kean – A Review

Addressing a serious health issue can be a stressful situation for those involved. It is rare to see a play take on a disease like malaria. However, a new play running at Premiere Stages at Kean is about this very topic. Mala Aria by Gloria Majule provides an opportunity to learn more about this disease and how it affects families. Although there are few cases of it reported yearly in the United States, it still needs to be taken seriously. In a number of African countries like Tanzania, one of the settings in the play, it is a different story. People live with the threat daily making it a more serious threat to human life.

Mala Aria is the winner of the Premiere Stages 2025 Premiere Play Festival. There is no doubt why this play won. It is a moving story that not only shows family love and relationships but it also helps develop an understanding of malaria and what it brings.

Gloria Majule recounts her background with the disease in the Playwright’s Notes found in the program for Mala Aria. Majule grew up in Tanzania. She and her sisters got malaria multiple times in her childhood. When she was in high school, her maternal grandmother died of malaria complications She says:

So the disease has been an integral part of my story. I wanted to imagine a protagonist who makes it their life mission to eradicate malaria. . . . I wrote Mala Aria to reckon with what it mean to live in a world where you can lose a loved one due to one mosquito bite, what it means to live in a world where a disease that should have been eradicated decades ago continues to devastate lives.

That quote gives a good view point of the origins of this play. Majule writes a compassionate yet determined look at how deadly malaria can be. There are dark moments but also hopeful ones as the tale unfolds.

The Story Told in Mala Aria

Jamil A.C. Mangan directs this show with a sensitivity to the importance of families, their connections, and the intensity with which malaria strikes. When the play opens, the family is gathered around an urn containing the ashes of the mother of the family, She died from malaria. Although very sad, the father, Baba Amazia, encourages his daughters to dance because he tells them, that is what their mother would have wanted. Eugene Nesmith, who plays Baba, does a superb job with his role. He shifts through many different emotions all in an effort to keep his family grounded and working for good things.

Her mother’s death strengthens Amazia’s resolve to work hard to eradicate malaria. Shiro Kihagi does a outstanding job of portraying the many difficulties her character faces and how forceful she must be. She is already enrolled as a research student studying in Tanzania to work on the disease. However, she wants to go to New York City to complete her PhD and continue on a much larger scale to study the disease. She has theories that she believes can work but she needs more research and support to prove them.

It is quite a battle that ensues between father and daughter on this point. Finally, Baba relents and allows her to go but only after she promises to return to Tanzania after her graduation and work there.

Nazira Cisse plays younger sister Kezia. Cisse plays her role with the loving compassion of a family member who feels the need to stay behind and care for her father. Her compassion extents to her sister as they talk via FaceTime. Kezia listens to her sister who is so busy in the lab but the two try to keep their bond going.

Living in NYC Brings Opportunities and New Personal Revelations

Amazia works hard in the lab trying to develop a breed of the mosquito that could wipe out the ones carrying the malaria disease. She is on her way to achieving some success but the path is not always clear or open. She meets Jasmine played by Anita Welch Smith. Smith plays her part well with both understanding and concern. Amazia realizes she wants to love this woman in a way she could not do back in Tanzania. This divides Amazia from her father and she decides not to return home as previously promised.

Resolution

As is my style, I will stop here because I don’t want to give away the ending. However, be prepared for a several surprises along the way to the conclusion. Although sadness occurs, the play ends on a note of hope.

Questions about the need for a more comprehensive approaches to eradicating malaria continue to prevail and will leave you wondering why more has not happened. For me, seeing this play was a learning experience about the prevalence of malaria and the need for research to better handle it. Hopefully change will come soon.

Sets and Costumes

A change in the usual seating arrangement of the Premiere Stages set allows for a wider stage for this play. At times, there are two settings going at once: one in the home in Tanzania and one in a lab in New York City. Amazia and Jazmine’s bedroom is also a part of the main staging. But nothing overlaps because the staging is well designed to hold it all.

Costumes reflect both of the locations where the action is taking place. Very interesting art work is shown to connect the characters to Tanzania.

The professional design team includes Scenic Designer – David M. Barber, Costume Designer – Niiamar Felder, Lighting Designer – Zack Gage, and Sound Designer Tyler.Sautner. The creative team also includes Music Composer – Carter “Roc” Mangan Jr., Props Master – Mary Gragen and Scenic Artist – Camyron Chauffe. Karishma Bhagani – Dialect Coach and Brooke M. Haney – Intimacy Coordinator. Dale Smallwood is the Production Stage Manager. 

Go to See Mala Aria

Mala Aria runs July 16-August 2 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J.

To purchase tickets, call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit premierestagesatkean.com.

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Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery is Fun and Interesting to See

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Karen Nowosad
Christian Pedersen as Sherlock Holmes and Brandon Jones as Dr. John Watson.
Photo by Avery Brunkus.

Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey – A Review

For people who enjoy the challenge of figuring out a mystery, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ) has just the show for you. Now playing through Augsut 2, 2026 on their main stage in Madison is Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. This play is based upon one of the most notorious mysteries in the Sherlock Holmes series, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Conan Doyle.

Sherlock Holmes has long been regarded as a master mystery solver. This fictional character has a knack for keen observations that help him solve mysteries. Working with Holmes is his associate, Dr. Watson, who assists him in solving these mysteries.Together, the pair make an unstoppable force. They are popular with audiences and they evolve constantly as new approaches to Doyle’s work come about. That is what happens with this play. Ludwig is renowned for his work as a playwright specializing in comedy treatments. So what happens with this play is Ludwig takes the tale, and puts his own spin on it.

The elements of whodunit are presented with a great deal of humor. Under the direction of Brian B. Crowe, the play includes a cast of five to play a lot of different roles, many costume changes, and many well designed staging techniques to enhance the story.

This play will tickle your funny bone but also keep you in suspense until the end where a most unusual creature is revealed. Director Crowe takes the actors’ work and enhances the tale as it is told with some outstanding work from the creatives including lighting, costumes, sound, and scenic design.

Christian Pedersen as Sherlock Holmes, Brandon Jones as Dr. John Watson, Nicholas
Wilder as Dr. Mortimer. Photo by Avery Brunkus.

The Story of Baskerville with Strange Suspicions

The original Hound of the Baskervilles is regarded as the greatest and most dangerous cases in the history of the careers of Holmes and Watson. Ken Ludwig’s version follows much of the story with different inflections. Here, the pair are called in after Sir Charles Baskerville dies an unexpected death. A gruesome sound echoes as it takes place. Holmes and Watson learn about the legend of a deadly curse. There is also suspicion of the existence of an controllable hound that roams the area.

The family is concerned because Sir Henry Baskerville is the heir to Sir Charles. Plans for his arrival are underway. Yet when he arrives, we get a surprise. Rather than a British gentleman, we get a loud man from Texas who talks with the Texas accent and is quite different from the family bringing in humorous moments.

Oh Yes, Those Moors

The setting for the play is in London and Devonshire and the time is late 1890s.

Warnings not to go up to the moors are given. The lighting plays an integral part is making the moors look like a scary place to be. The distinctive orange color of the moon adds a twinge of uncertainty to scenes in the evening. Additional lighting enhancement to create a foggy look appears at other times.

David Foubert as Sir Henry Baskerville and Brandon Jones as Dr. John Watson. Photo by Avery Brunkus.

And so many characters start to appear including Beryl and her brother. Beryl puts the moves on newly arrived Sir Henry. He’s not quite sure what to think. There are other hilarious characters that bring in new aspects of solving the crime such as a wild butterfly collector, a pair of young English boys, and a desk clerk. In all, there are about 40 characters who appear in and out and the pace keeps up just fine with their arrivals.

Janiah-Camile François as Miss Stapleton and David Foubert as Sir Henry Baskerville. Photo by Avery Brunkus.

Holmes and Watson work to solve the case. Finally the answer appears in the form of what we would have to call a supernatural creature, or not! The scene where this mysterious creature appears also uses some intense scenic design including lighting and sound that help bring it to life. And it does bring the play to an outstanding conclusion with everything solved.

A Hard Working Cast

The talented cast includes Christian Pedersen as Sherlock Holmes and Brandon Jones as Dr. John Watson. David Foubert as Actor Two, Janiah-Camile Francois as Actress One, and Nicholas Wilder as Actor One round out the cast. This group portray many colorful characters throughout the course of the mystery. Watch the stage carefully because one second you will see one of these three playing one character and then do a quick change, even of a hat, to portray another.

Applause for the Creatives

The creative team is led by Artistic Director Brian B. Crowe. Scenic design is by Dick Block, costume design by Austin Blake Conlee, lighting design by Tony Galaska, sound design by Germán Martinez, fight direction by Doug West, and vocal coaching by Vivian Majkowski. Alison Cote serves as Production Stage Manager.

Special Events

  • Know-the-Show Series & Closed Captioning: Thursday, July 23rd starting at 6:45 p.m. This includes a pre-show talk with the artistic team about the playwright and work. Closed Captioning provided at this performance by Globetitles.
  • Hobnob & Hang: Friday, July 24th following the performance – This event provides a chance to mix and mingle with fellow theater lovers after the show; bites and cash bar available.
  • Symposium Series #2: Saturday, July 25th following matinee performance – A lively post-show chat with the cast and artistic team
  • Library Day: Wednesday, July 29th starting at 1:00 p.m. Let the library come to you! Peruse a wide selection of books and check out the most interesting ones, right in the lobby of the Theatre. This event is In partnership with the Main Library Alliance.
  • Sensory Seminar & Audio Described Performance: Wednesday, July 29th starting at 1:15 p.m. This includes a pre-show experience for Blind/low-vision patrons. Audio Description provided at this performance.
  • Baker Street Bake Shoppe: Friday, July 31st starting at 6:30 p.m. A pre-show gathering open to patrons; bites and cash bar available.
  • Backstage Tour: Saturday, August 1st starting at 11:30 a.m. Take a peek behind-the-scenes of the production at the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre.
  • Symposium Series #3: Saturday, August 1st following matinee performance. A lively post-show chat with the cast and artistic team.

To See the Play

Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery runs now through August 2 at the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the campus of Drew University. The Theatre is located at
36 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ.

Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at (973) 408-5600 or purchasing on their website at ShakespeareNJ.org.

In addition to offering an unforgettable summer adventure for audiences of all ages, Baskerville is the featured production for the Theatre’s Free Tix for Kids program. Free tickets for children ages 17 and under are available with the purchase of any eligible ticket (Regular, Senior, $35 Under 35, and Member tickets). Up to four free tickets per order. The offer cannot be combined with other discounts and is available exclusively for performances of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. The program, generously sponsored by the Merrill G. and Emita E. Hastings Foundation, reflects The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s ongoing commitment to making live theater accessible and affordable for families.

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