THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR • St. Louis Shakespeare

In the latest production from St. Louis Shakespeare, Mistresses Ford and Page are up to mischief in Windsor.

Sir John Falstaff (Martin Casey) is broke when he visits Windsor, and plans to woo Mistresses Ford and Page (Suki Peters & Jamie Marble) to get at the wallets of their husbands.  Fellas, if you're gonna write a nearly identical love letter to two women, make sure they don't find out about it, please.  That's the mistake Falstaff makes.  Once the Mistresses find out, they are bent on making a fool of him -- not really a difficult task.  Master Page (Chris Jones) doesn't give this buffoon much thought, but Master Ford (Ben Ritchie ) is jealous like crazy, so he disguises himself as "Master Brook" to try to get to the bottom of the "Fat Knight" and exactly what his intentions are.  Mistresses Ford and Page have a great time causing Falstaff to endure all kinds of humiliation as payment for his sloppy flirtations -- everything from being submerged in a filthy mess of smelly laundry to being poked and prodded by the local townsfolk.  Poor Falstaff.  In the end though, everything turns out fairly well.

THE CRUMPLE ZONE • Citilites Theatre

Ah, the holidays.  Supposedly a time of mirth and merriment for families and friends right?  Well, not always.  If there's one thing this play about infidelity, love and friendship demonstrates, it's that the holiday season can be just as unfulfilling for gays as it can be for straight folks.  Sounds like an engaging play though, right?  Well, not really.

Set in a small apartment in Staten Island, our cast of characters includes Terry (Keith Thompson), the incredibly lonely and neurotic unemployed actor who has a tremendous crush on Buck (Troy Turnipseed). But Buck is the lover of Alex (Seth Ward Pyatt), Terry's roommate.  He's working as a Santa Claus at the Staten Island Mall.  Then there's Matt (Anotnio Rodriguez), Alex's long-term boyfriend who is out on the road touring with a musical adaptation of "Salem's Lot".  There's also Roger (Devin Przygoda) who is picked up by Terry on the Staten Island ferry.