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Merry Wives of Windsor

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Eric Tucker

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Featuring only three actors—Nicole Lewis, Jason O’Connell, and Zuzanna Szadkowski—this production of The Merry Wives of Windsor explores the darker undercurrent of one of Shakespeare’s silliest comedies. In the play, the lecherous buffoon John Falstaff decides to seduce both Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, respectable married women of Windsor. When the two women immediately see through Falstaff’s plot, they decide to turn the tables on him and devise a plot of their own.

WATCH

Official Trailer

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

adventurous and refreshing.

THE STAR LEDGER

Inventive and Fascinating

BROADWAY WORLD

the show boasts an entertaining level of energy and laughs

ASBURY PARK PRESS

MEET THE ARTISTS

THE CAST

Nicole Lewis

Nicole Lewis is excited to work on Merry Wives of Windsor with two incredible castmates at Two River Theater. Broadway: Hair, 2009 Tony Award Best Revival (Original Cast); Rent; Lennon. Off-Broadway: Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility; Measure for Measure and Macbeth (The Public Theater Mobile Unit); Murder Ballad and Boy Gets Girl (Manhattan Theatre Club); Happiness (Lincoln Center Theater workshop). Regional: Disgraced (ATC); Good People (Geva Theatre & Indiana Rep); Race (Philadelphia Theatre Co.); All My Sons (Intiman Theater, Seattle); Paula Vogel’s A Civil War Christmas (Baltimore Center Stage); The Tempest (Williamstown); Legally Blonde (CRT); The Threepenny Opera and Tartuffe (A.C.T., San Francisco). Special engagements include: Far But Close by/with Daniel Beaty (Dance Theatre of Harlem); Flowers Are Sleeping by/with Eisa Davis (Symphony Space); 2013 New Hampshire Theatre Award nominee — Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Asaka in Once On This Island). TV: The Blacklist, Mozart in the Jungle, Odd Mom Out, Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods. Nicole plays the title character in the feature film London Betty and can be seen in the recently released Robert De Niro flick, The Comedian. Nicole is also a professional commercial and audiobook voice-over Artist and is a proud member of the Actors Center. She holds a BA from Yale University and an MFA from A.C.T. in San Francisco. Thanks to Heidi and Kate, the Lewis/Leach fams, Grandpa, Deloss Brown, Melissa Smith, LAVA, Eric and Bedlam. NicoleLewis.nyc; @NicoleLewisNYC.

Jason O'Connell

JASON O’CONNELL is a NYC-based actor, writer and director whose plays include CyranoThe Dork Knight (Abingdon Theatre, Joe’s Pub at The Public), and Fat and Scant of Breath: or, Stabbing at Hamlet. Directing credits include the world premiere of Cyrano (Amphibian Stage), Pride and Prejudice (Syracuse Stage), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), and Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Texas Shakespeare Festival). As an actor, Jason’s Off-Broadway credits include Harold Ryan in Happy Birthday, Wanda June (Wheelhouse/The Duke on 42nd St), Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages), Bottom and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Pearl), Edward Ferrars and Robert Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam/The Gym at Judson), and Trigorin in The Seagull (Bedlam/Sheen Center). Regional acting credits include Noises Off and The Merry Wives of Windsor at Two River Theater, The Play’s the Thing at A.P.T., Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at Great Lakes Theater, Next Fall at Florida Studio Theatre, All My Sons and Frost/Nixon at Arkansas Rep, the title role in Hamlet at Texas Shakespeare Festival, the title role in Richard III at Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, and 24 plays in 10 seasons with Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (favorite roles include Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dorante in The Liar). Jason has appeared on several episodes of NBC’s Law & Order franchise, and has performed stand-up comedy all over NYC, including at Caroline’s on Broadway. He won the NYIT award for Outstanding Lead Actor in Don Juan in Hell (also cited as one of the year’s best performances by The Wall Street Journal); the premiere production of Cyrano received Best Play and Best Director citations from the Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum. Jason is a founding member of NYC theatre company The COOP, and makes his home in Queens with his fiancée, the actress/playwright Kate Hamill. www.jason-oconnell.com.

Zuzanna Szadkowski

Zuzanna Szadkowski played Dorota in the CW’s hit drama series Gossip GirlShe can be seen as Nurse Pell on the Cinemax series from Steven Soderbergh, The KnickOther television credits include The Good Wife, ElementaryGirlsGuiding LightThe SopranosLaw & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Film credits include Growing Up and Other Lies, Loserville and Butterflies of Bill Baker. Theater credits include The Comedy of Errors as part of the Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit, Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore Off-Broadway and on tour, and The 39 Steps at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She received a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.F.A. in acting from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard.

THE CREATIVES

Director

Eric Tucker
Eric Tucker

Eric Tucker was named The Wall Street Journal’s Director of the Year in 2014. Off-Broadway: Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility (Off-Broadway Alliance Award, Lortel nom — Best Director, Drama League nom —  Best Revival); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Drama League nom — Best Revival, WSJ Best Classical Production 2015, NY Times’ Critics’ Pick); Bedlam’s Saint Joan (NY Times/Time Magazine Top 10, Off-Broadway Alliance Best Revival 2014); Bedlam’s Hamlet (NY Times Top 10, Time Out NY and Backstage Critics’ Pick); Tina Packer’s Women of Will; The Belle of Belfast. For Bedlam: Dead Dog Park, New York Animals (world premiere by Steven Sater/Burt Bacharach), Twelfth Night and What You Will (NY Times Critics’ Picks), The Seagull (WSJ Best Classical Production 2014) and Sense & Sensibility (NY Times Top 10, NY Times/Wall Street Journal/Time Out Critics’ Pick), Saint Joan and Hamlet (NYC and Tour; Elliott Norton Awards — Outstanding Visiting Production and Outstanding Ensemble; Boston Globe Top 10). Other: Sense & Sensibility (The Folger), Copenhagen (Central Square Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (HVSF), The Libertine (IRNE nomination, Best Director). Hamlet (with William Hurt), Mate (The Actors’ Gang), Macbeth (Best Overall Production and Best Director noms LA Weekly). Eric received his M.F.A. from the Trinity Rep Conservatory. He resides in New York City, where he is the Artistic Director of Bedlam Theatre.

Scenic Designer

Lee Savage
Lee Savage

Lee Savage previously designed Opus and In This House for Two River. New York: Muscles in Our Toes, Sunset Baby, and Thinner than Water (Labyrinth); Collapse (Women’s Project); All-American (LCT3); The Dream of the Burning Boy and Ordinary Days (Roundabout); Oohrah! (Atlantic); The Bereaved (Partial Comfort); punkplay (Clubbed Thumb). Regional: Asolo Rep, Chautauqua Theater Company, Dallas Theater Center, Glimmerglass Festival, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington National Opera, Westport Country Playhouse, Wilma Theater, Yale Rep and others. International: The Gate (Dublin, Ireland), Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Awards: NAACP: Satchmo at the Waldorf (Wallis Annenberg); Helen Hayes: Much Ado About NothingA Midsummer Night’s Dream (nom); Richard III (nom) (all Shakespeare Theatre Company); Connecticut Critics Circle: The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Yale Rep). Affiliations: Member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. Instructor: Yale School of Drama Design Department and Rhode Island School of Design. Training: Rhode Island School of Design: BFA; Yale School of Drama: MFA.

Costume Designer

Jessica Pabst
Jessica Pabst

Jessica Pabst Broadway: The Heidi Chronicles. Off-Broadway: The Harvest, Her Requiem, Kill Floor (LCT3); A Life, Marjorie Prime, Antila Pneumatica, The Qualms, The Whale (Lucille Lortel Award; Playwrights Horizons); Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois (Atlantic); Exit Strategy (Primary Stages); The Nether (MCC); Fortress of Solitude (The Public); The Ruins of Civilization, When We Were Young and Unafraid, Murder Ballad (MTC); Buyer & Cellar (Barrow Street, National Tour, London’s The Menier Chocolate Factory, Rattlestick); She Kills Monsters (Drama Desk nom; The Flea). Many productions with Rattlestick, The Flea, Clubbed Thumb (Associate Artist). Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Long Wharf, Kirk Douglas, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House.

Lighting Designer

Eric Southern
Eric Southern

Eric Southern is an Obie Award-winning winning designer for theater, opera, and dance. New York: The Harvest (Lincoln Center); Sell/Buy/Date (MTC); Pocatello, Indian Summer (Playwrights Horizons); Rimbaud in NY (BAM, The Civilians); Steve (New Group); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Taste of Honey (Pearl Theatre);Buyer and Cellar (New York, London, Mark Taper Forum and National Tour); Collected Stories: memoir with David Lang (Carnegie Hall); Paul’s Case, The Good Swimmer (Prototype Festival); Play/Pause (BAM, David LangSusan Marshall and Company); Chromatic (ADI, The Kitchen, Susan Marshall and Company). His extensive work with the award-winning group 600 Highwaymen has been seen throughout the US and Europe. Also: Atlantic Theater Company, The Guthrie Theater, Virginia Opera, Long Wharf Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, The Kennedy Center, Baltimore Centerstage, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Kansas City Rep, Portland Center Stage, among others.

Sound Designer

Karin Graybash
Karin Graybash

Karin Graybash has created numerous sound designs for regional theater and Off-Broadway, including: Hartford Stage, Long Wharf, Berkeley Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Yale Rep, McCarter, Arena Stage, Portland Stage, TheatreWorks, and the Alliance. Her work has been nominated for the Helen Hayes Awards and she is a recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Award for her sound design of Polk County at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Karin was the original live sound consultant for the multi-media production Freedom Rising at the National Constitution Center. Many of her soundscapes can be heard at The Franklin Institute’s exhibit entitled Your Brain. Karin also holds the position of Sound Supervisor for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Casting

Heidi Griffiths
Heidi Griffiths

Heidi Griffiths has worked for more than 25 years at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC, where she has cast over 200 productions Off-Broadway and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, including Shakespeare, new plays, and musicals. On Broadway: The Girl From The North Country; The Inheritance; The Iceman Cometh; Sweat; Shuffle Along; The Crucible, Eclipsed; A Delicate Balance; A Raisin in the Sun; Lucky Guy; Chinglish; The Motherf**ker with the Hat; The Merchant of Venice; Hair; Passing Strange; Caroline, or Change; Take Me Out (Tony Award, Best Play 2003); Topdog/Underdog (Pulitzer Prize, 2002); The Wild Party; Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk; On the Town; and The Tempest. She also cast the films The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, MURDER and murder, Saving Face and Ladybird. Radio Golf is her 12th collaboration with Two River Theater.

Kate Murray
Kate Murray

Two River Theater: TheoKing Hedley IIThe Importance of Being EarnestThe Women of Padilla, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven GuitarsYour Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, and The School for Wives. Broadway (as Casting Associate): The CrucibleA View from the Bridge, A Delicate Balance, A Raisin in the SunLucky Guy (Casting Assistant). Additional casting credits include work with Arena Stage, Center Theater Group, The Cherry Lane, Bedlam, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, LAByrinth, New Georges, TheaterWorks Hartford, and The Studio TheatreKate is a Casting Director at The Public Theater.

Production Stage Manager

Brett Anders
Brett Anders

Previously stage managed The Merry Wives of Windsor at Two River Theater. Off-Broadway: Power Strip, The Harvest (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater); BLKS (MCC Theater); I Was Most Alive with You, The Treasurer, Bella: An American Tall Tale (Playwrights Horizons); Cyprus Avenue, Mobile Unit: Henry V (Public Theater); [PORTO], (WP Theater/Bushwick Starr). Regional: Selling Kabul (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Miller, Mississippi (Long Wharf Theatre); Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility (A.R.T.); The Best Little…in Texas (Theatre Under the Stars); 40 productions at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX.

Assistant to the Director

Genevieve Hoeler
Genevieve Hoeler

Assistant Costume Designer

Jessica Cronin
Jessica Cronin

Assistant Lighting Designer

Maximo Grano de Oro
Maximo Grano de Oro

PHOTOS

Dates and tickets

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