Hear the cast of Merry Wives talk about what role, other than their own, they’d like to play in the show.
Features
Clip | Merry Wives Receive Falstaff’s Letters
Clip | The Cast of Merry Wives Share Their Favorite Lines
7 Shakespeare Plays Adapted on Screen
Clip | Adapting Merry Wives For Today’s Audiences
Clip | The Merry Wives’ Revenge on Falstaff
Clip | Falstaff’s Plan and Pistol’s Revenge
Full Episode | Great Performances: Merry Wives
TRANSCRIPT
If I could switch roles with anyone in Great Performances: Merry Wives, it would easily be Pascale Armand as Miss Ekua Page.
Is there not a double excellency in this?
If I could switch one role in Great Performances: Mery Wives of Windsor, I don't think I would. I like my role. It's um, I get to play an aging, greedy bureaucrat, and I wouldn't trade that for the world.
He hath wronged me, Mr. Page. Indeed he has.
In a word he has.
It would probably be with Susan Kelechi Watson, who gets to play Madam Ford, because she gets to dance to the awesome song by Yemi Alade called 'Johnny.'. ♪♪ If I could trade roles with anyone in Great Performances: Merry Wives, it would be Pastor Evans.
Pastor Evans is someone whose lines I think I might know them all.
I talk along with him backstage. It's probably what he did with it.
He just made it so funny and hilarious.
And I especially love when he says, 'Now let me finish my dinner.'
There's plantains and tilapia to come.
If I could switch roles with anyone in Merry Wives, it would be Jacob, who is Falstaff.
Falstaff.
It would be Falstaff.
Because of his ability to do all these fantastic lines in contemporary context.
I just quote him all the time.
I will hang like LeBron James, over the cuckold's horns.
It is, he is so ridiculous. I would just love to do that all day long.
[Falstaff vocalizing] There's like, it's a limitless character.
He does everything that he could possibly want.
And I think that it'd be kind of awesome to see a woman play that role.
I'll call you guys tomorrow.
If I could switch roles with anyone in Great Performances: Merry Wives, I wouldn't, because I have the best role. I ain't gonna switch.
[makes exaggerated fighting noises]
