FALSTAFF IN LOVE Comes to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts Next Week

 Shakespearean charm fills the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA), where preparations for the ten-show run of Falstaff in Love are underway. This hilarious prequel to William Shakespeare's Henry IV plays is set to open on December 8, with performances through December 23. Commissioned by the highly respected Oregon Shakespeare Festival and premiering in full production at WICA, the play is written by Scott Kaiser and directed by WICA Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan.

The play takes Shakespeare’s beloved character Sir John Falstaff and imagines the life before he was known as “a lazy, gluttonous, boastful, selfish, lying, and debauched old knight.”

“One of the most challenging aspects of being a playwright is finding a performing arts organization willing to assume the risks of producing new work,” says Kaiser, who will appear at WICA on December 17 for an audience talkback following the show that afternoon. “WICA took a chance on my play Falstaff in Love, committing to a full production rather than waiting for another institution to prove the commercial viability of the work. For this reason, I am forever grateful to my colleagues at WICA, whose bold artistic engagement provides invaluable resources—both to professional theatre artists like me and to the Whidbey Island community.”

The cast for the WICA production is as follows:

Jeff Natter, Host, Guard

James Hinkley, Corporal Bardolf, Gardener

David Mayer, Duke of Aumerle, King Henry the Fourth

Andrew Yabroff, Jack Falstaff

Jameson Cook, Boy

Rosaletta Curry, Nell

Sommer Harris, Queen Mary

Shelley Hartle, Lady Katherine

Aleah Stacey, Faith, The Earl of Kent

Tom Harris, The Earl of Salisbury, Crew

"I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time," says Duncan. "To be in the rehearsal hall with these amazing actors and working with a strong design team, I’m reminded how important live theatre is. This art form is rare in that it’s not perfect—perfectly imperfect actually. Theatre allows space for our humanness and then shares that with an audience, creating a once-in-a-lifetime “moment” every night."

With rehearsals ongoing, the set being painted, and a steady hum of activity at WICA as preparations move forward, Falstaff in Love’s December premiere and performance run is a week away. Tickets for the play are on sale now. Visit www.wicaonline.org to purchase tickets today.

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