‘Wives’ a good fit as ‘50s farce

William Shakespeare and TV-land collide at Pershing Square in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” This open-air Shakespeare Festival/LA production places the Bard’s 1597 farce of spousal suspicion in the realm of Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo and their classic sitcom ilk.

According to legend, “Merry Wives” was written in 14 days after Elizabeth I requested a return of Sir John Falstaff, Prince Hal’s corpulent confidant in “Henry IV, Part 1.” Shakespeare allegedly halted “Henry IV, Part 2” to whip up this daft examination of the constancy of womankind and the assimilating goals of the upwardly mobile.

The scenario revolves around title characters Alice Ford (Shana Wride) and Margaret Page (Judy Moreland), both excellent. These respectable matrons are the romantic targets of Falstaff (the tireless Irwin Appel), who has sent each of them sappy love letters.

Their counterplot to give their would-be seducer his comeuppance is complicated by the jealous Frank Ford (Geoffrey Lower), class-conscious George Page (Tim Choate), and assorted mechanicals. The Pages’ daughter Anne (Honey Crawford) and her money-mad suitors supply further convolutions, culminating in a forest masquerade and a happy conclusion.

In its prosaic middle-class emphasis, “Merry Wives” suits the ‘50s, as the Royal Shakespeare Company discovered in Bill Alexander’s acclaimed 1986 staging, which booted the homilies into “Father Knows Best” territory. Similar reasoning operates here, beginning with Jon Gottlieb’s tickling theme-song soundtrack and Lewis Dix’s audience warmup, leading to a simulated television shoot setup and Ford’s opening magic act.

Set and lighting designer Trevor Norton’s ever-shifting gray-toned panels framed by a giant television screen proscenium are impressive. So are Linda C. Davisson’s costumes: The wives conflate Eve Arden, Lucille Ball, Joan Davis and Donna Reed; Falstaff mixes Jackie Gleason with Milton Berle and Phil Silvers; the rustics would suit “Mayberry RFD,” and so on.

Moreland and Wride are fine conspirators, very funny in the twin pseudo-seduction scenes. Lower’s Ford combines iambic pentameter with conversational ease and splenetic impact, and Choate’s Page suggests Gale Gordon by way of Jim Backus.

Crawford’s charming Anne delivers a jazzy air (composed by David O.) in the manner of Leslie Uggams on “Sing Along With Mitch,” and Patricia Belcher’s bumptious Quickly is a tippling version of Shirley Booth’s Hazel. Patrick O’Brien’s Gabby Hayes-flavored Shallow, Laurence Cohen’s Maynard G. Krebs-like Slender, Warren Sweeney’s Art Carney-esque Host and Gregg Daniel’s evangelistic Evans are among the standouts in an enthusiastic cast.

However, director Ben Donenberg and company should reconsider some choices.

The text is judiciously edited, but not enough to withstand the languid pacing, or to clarify Shakespeare’s tangled plotting. Furthermore, the iconography is uneven, sometimes almost opaque. The crowd-pleasing Appel’s physicality certainly approximates Gleason, but his raucous, externally motivated readings are nearer to Drew Carey than Ed Norton’s crony or Shakespeare’s windbag.

The Italian malapropisms of Fred Sanders’ Dr. Caius, another audience favorite, wear thin fast and aren’t significantly funnier than Shakespeare’s French originals. Nor does Fidel Gomez’s leather-jacketed Fenton make a convincing romantic juvenile, despite his intelligence and sincerity.

Ultimately, the era touches, magic tricks and divertissements feel self-referential and arbitrary, as in the California Pizza Kitchen commercial that ends Act 1 on a high at the expense of narrative.

Audiences inured to the wasteland of post-millennial television may disregard these reservations, but purists and the easily confused might consider their fatty tolerance before consuming.

*

‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’

Where: Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., L.A., through July 26; at South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes, July 31-Aug. 10

When: Tuesdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Dark Aug. 5.

Price: Free with canned food donation in L.A.; $15-$18 in Palos Verdes

Contact: (213) 481-2273

Shana Wride...Alice Ford

Judy Moreland...Margaret Page

Irwin Appel...Falstaff

Geoffrey Lower...Frank Ford

Patricia Belcher...Mistress Quickly

Tim Choate...George Page

Honey Crawford ...Anne Page

Gregg Daniel...Reverend Evans

Laurence Cohen...Slender

Patrick O’Brien...Shallow

Fred Sanders...Dr. Caius/Bardolph

Warren Sweeney...Host

Fidel Gomez...Fenton

Jorge Vargas...Simple

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Ben Donenberg. Set and lights by Trevor Norton. Costumes by Linda C. Davisson. Sound by Jon Gottlieb. Composer David O. Choreographer Susan Goldberg. Production stage manager Sarah Guadalupe Ortega