$
Merry Wives
Merry Wives

Merry Wives to Be Filmed for Great Performances on PBS

Live theatre being preserved on film is always an accomplishment to celebrate and soon there will be more to add to the ever-growing list. It was revealed this week that The Public Theater’s production of Merry Wives will be recorded for Great Performances on PBS!

Merry Wives, a fresh and joyous adaptation by Jocelyn Bioh of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, has been in performances since early July as part of The Public’s 2021 summer season of Shakespeare in the Park, playing a tremendous role in welcoming New York audiences back to live theatre.

Set in South Harlem, amidst a vibrant and eclectic community of West African immigrants, Merry Wives is a New York story about tricks of the heart, performed in the heart of the City—Central Park’s magical Delacorte Theater. A raucous spinoff featuring the Bard’s most beloved comic characters, this hilarious farce tells the story of the trickster Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a new celebration of Black joy, laughter, and vitality.

The cast includes Abena, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Pascale Armand, MaYaa Boateng, Phillip James Brannon, Brandon E. Burton, Joshua Echebiri, Angela Grovey, Branden Lindsay, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Jarvis D. Matthews, Jacob Ming-Trent, Jennifer Mogbock, Julian Rozzell Jr., Kyle Scatliffe, David Ryan Smith, and Susan Kelechi Watson

Named one of the events to check out in New York theatre this summer, Merry Wives plays at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater through September 18.