Richard Risso has been named to direct...

Richard Risso has been named to direct “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (Sept. 2-26) at GroveShakespeare’s Festival Amphitheatre in Garden Grove. Risso, who has extensive credits staging productions at both the Oregon and Utah Shakespeare festivals and at other regional theaters, is the fourth director chosen for the job. Jules Aaron, the Grove’s associate artistic director, was originally scheduled to direct “Wives” but withdrew because of a busy schedule. He was replaced by Stuart McDowell, the recently appointed artistic director of the Grove. McDowell subsequently withdrew in favor of his wife, Gloria Skurski, to focus on what he termed community networking. Skurski withdrew late last month for family reasons.