Jacob Ming-Trent Joins MERRY WIVES at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Lance Coadie Williams, originally announced as Falstaff in Merry Wives, will no longer appear in the production due to personal reasons. Taking over the role will be Jacob Ming-Trent. Ming Trent originated the role of Falstaff in Jocelyn Bioh’s adaptation of Merry Wives for its premiere  production at The Public Theater in 2021, receiving a Drama Desk nomination for the role.

His  Broadway credits include the Gypsy revival with Audra MacoDnald, Shrek the Musical,  and Hands on a Hardbody. He has appeared in numerous productions at The Public Theater,  Classical Stage company, TFANA, and Lincoln Center. He will bring his autobiographical-inspired  play, How Shakespeare Saved My Live to Folger Theatre in 2026. 

About Jacob Ming-Trent

STC: Debut. NEW YORK: Broadway: Gypsy revival, Shrek the  
Musical, Hands on a Hardbody. Off-Broadway: Red Bull  
Theater: Medea Reversed (Lortel Nom) The  Alchemist, Mammon (Lortel Nom); The Public Theater: The Harder They Come (Lortel Nom, AUDELCO Nom), Merry Wives (Falstaff,  
Drama Desk Nom), Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch), Father Comes Home from the Wars (Lortel Award, AUDELCO Nom), Cymbeline, The Tempest; CSC: Mother  Courage; TFANA: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Lincoln Center  Theater: On the Levee. INTERNATIONAL (England): Birmingham Rep, The Barbican. FILM: Super Fly, The Forty-Year-Old Version, The Snakes, R#J, The Possession of Hannah Grace, The Bygone,  Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Psycho Therapy (starring Steve Buscemi),  Friendship (starring Paul Rudd). TV: White Famous (Showtime, series regular), Watchmen (HBO,  series regular), Ray Donovan (Showtime, recurring), Feed the Beast (AMC,  recurring), Only Murders in the Building, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, New Amsterdam, God  Friended Me, High Maintenance, and more. Writer: How Shakespeare Saved My Life.