INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – As the sun sets at Lake Tahoe’s Sand Harbor State Park on Friday, July 12, Shakespeare enthusiasts wait patiently to watch the opening night at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. 

Laughs can still be heard from the beach, while festival crew members work furiously to move the set pieces to the back of the stage. The winds were blowing so hard, staff feared for the safety of the cast but that didn’t stop the cast from putting on an amazing performance. 

“You did a very special night when we did it without the set,” said Actress Teri Brown to the Tribune following the performance. “For me it forced me to return to the pure storytelling of the play and I realized how much physically is required to tell that story.”

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Attendees were there to revel in the uproarious comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor as it takes center stage at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. Against a backdrop of stunning natural beauty, this timeless tale of mischief and mistaken identities is captivating audiences, offering a delightful blend of laughter and lakeside charm.

The Merry Wives of Windsor features the rotund rascal Sir John Falstaff and the wise wives of Windsor in one of Shakespeare’s most raucous comedies. With an ego as big as his voracious appetite, Falstaff conspires to woo the two wealthiest married ladies in town and pocket their riches. However, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page devise a scheme of their own to teach him a well-deserved lesson in Wooing 101 which results in a hilariously magnificent treat of monogamously artful deceit.

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While Shakespeare’s plays have been done in many different ways and in many different places, the setting of LTSF makes these performances truly unique. 

“I think it’s good that we as the actors don’t face the lake because I would just be checked out, I’d be so distracted just looking at the lake the whole time,” said Josh Houghton, who plays Slender, one of three suitors of Mistress Page’s daughter Anne. 

Brown, who plays Widow Quickly, shares Houghton’s sentiment. 

“It is a stunning backdrop,” said Brown. “I think it was last night, I was waiting to go on and I wasn’t facing the stage, I was facing the lake and the moon was glistening off the lake. I really did get distracted, I wasn’t listening for my entrance.”

Grayson Heyl, who plays both Artura Murray and the host of the Garter Inn said the view from the stage is also fantastic. 

“I think this is the biggest audience we’ve performed for,” said Heyl, adding this is the third troup the performers have acted with. “And the sound quality is really lovely.”

The setting may be beautiful but Shakespeare is not for the faint of heart. As almost every High School Freshman who is struggling through Romeo and Juliet can attest, reading and understanding Shakespeare takes patience and time.

“When making sense of the play, which is a touch confusing at times, I think, ‘how would I say this in a modern setting, what kind of person would say this?'” said Houghton. 

“The first couple scenes are definitely an opportunity for the audience to let the language wash over you, it takes a little bit of time to acclimate to this new language,” said Heyt. 

While Houghton, Heyl and Brown have all performed Shakespeare before, Brown is the only one who has performed in The Merry Wives of Windsor before. 

This play has several storylines so Brown said she hopes the crowd is able to follow at least one storyline.

“[The audience can take] a sense of pride of, ‘oh, I got that joke,'” added Heyt. 

The Merry Wives of Windsor will be performing at Sand Harbor State Park until August 24. 

To learn more or purchase tickets, visit https://laketahoeshakespeare.com/.