Felicia Curry and More to Star in MERRY WIVES at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Shakespeare Theatre Company has revealed the full cast and creative team of Merry Wives. The first show of STC’s forthcoming 40th Anniversary Season, Merry Wives is adapted by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Taylor Reynolds (Studio Theatre’s Fat Ham). Merry Wives plays STC’s Harman Hall September 9 through October 5.

“I’m thrilled to have visionary director Taylor Reynolds make her STC debut with Jocelyn Bioh’s playful take on The Merry Wives of Windsor, a joyful way to kick-off our 40th Anniversary Season,” said STC Artistic Director Simon Godwin. “It promises to be a season of reimagined classics, fresh perspectives on familiar stories, and exciting new collaborations.”

In Merry Wives, William Shakespeare’s farce gets a joyful spin from playwright Bioh (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), dropping the debaucherous Falstaff into the melting pot of modern Harlem. Short on cash, Falstaff pursues the purses of two sharp-witted West African wives. As their proud husbands’ suspicions rise, the wives cook up a scheme to shame the would-be homewrecker and prove that “wives may be merry, and yet honest too” in this celebration of community and Black joy.

“Merry Wives is a vibrant play centering characters from across the African diaspora in Harlem, New York,” said director Reynolds. “Being able to direct this production with Black characters onstage living their best lives, embracing joy and freedom of expression, is a precious gift. The cast we've put together is out of this world and I cannot wait to build this spirited world of humor, music, and movement with them."

Felicia Curry and Oneika Phillips will play the merry wives themselves, Madam Ford and Madam Page, respectively. Curry is an award-winning local favorite familiar to D.C. audiences, who previously appeared in STC’s production of Our Town, as well as the recent Broadway revival and National Tour of Into the Woods. Phillips’s Broadway credits include FELA!, Spongebob Squarepants, and the recent 2022 revival and National Tour of 1776, which featured an all-female, nonbinary, and transgender cast.

Joining the pair as the lascivious and often ridiculous Falstaff will be Lance Coadie Williams. A Baltimore native, he previously appeared at STC in The Oedipus Plays opposite Avery Brooks, and Broadway roles include Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Kiss Me, Kate. Nick Rashad Burroughs (Broadway’s Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Kinky Boots) joins the cast as Mister Ford and D.C. actor JaBen Early (Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Studio Theatre) as Mister Page. The Page family is completed by recent NYU graduate Peyton Rowe as Anne Page. Her central suitor Fenton, as well as the role of Simple, will be played by Latoya Edwards (Michael R. Jackson’s White Girl in Danger).

Other D.C. favorites include beloved STC mainstay Craig Wallace (Uncle Vanya, King Lear, Our Town) as Shallow; Kelli Blackwell (Studio’s The Colored Museum and Fat Ham) as Mama Quickly; and Bru Aju (Studio Theatre, Ford's Theatre, Arena Stage, as well as Netflix’s Manifest) as Slender/Pistol.

Making their STC debuts are Jordan Barbour (Off-Broadway's Langston in Harlem), Sekou Laidlow (Broadway’s Airline Highway, Toni Stone, Boys in the Band), and Howard University alumna Rebecca Celeste. Finishing out the ensemble is Shaka Zu (STOMP), a dancer and alumnus of the MFA Dance program at University of College Park, where he also served as the adjunct professor of West African Dance.

Understudies for the production are Saron Araia, Edmée-Marie Faal, Terrance Fleming, Joshua Oluwatofunmi Olujide, and Tyrone Stanley.

The creative team for this production includes Scenic Designer Lawrence Moten III, Costume Designer Ivania Stack, Lighting Designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Sound Designer & Composer Mikaal Sulaiman, Wig and Hair Designer Nikiya Mathis, Voice and Dialect Coach Dawn-Elin Fraser, and Choreographer Ashleigh King. Casting by STC Resident Casting Director Danica Rodriguez.