Falstaff

Five generations of women take on Shakespeare’s Falstaff, on stage and behind the scenes

Five generations of female actors form a theatre company that performs an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Both on stage and off, they are forced to battle with the iconic character of Falstaff. However, as they attempt to perform Falstaff’s grotesque plans to seduce two women simultaneously, reality keeps breaking through on stage. The corridors seethe with conflicts and confusion. Even the direction becomes part of the story. Gradually the borders between fiction and reality blur: what is ‘real’ and what is ‘true’?

Directed by Tom Goossens and Elien Hanselaer and with musical direction by Wouter Deltour, Falstaff unfolds like a veritable theatrical Russian doll. This iconic play is reinvented in a performance filled with humour, playful confusion and keen insights. Characters, actors, directors and unexpected figures become intertwined. Falstaff casts a fresh light on this classic, as well as on the operas of Verdi, Nicolai and Williams.

Credits

• Concept | Text • Elien Hanselaer / Tom Goossens
• Musical Director • Wouter Deltour
• Performers • Stefaan Degand / Wouter Deltour / Elien Hanselaer / Lucie Plasschaert / Ariane Van Vliet / Ecem Topcu / Sien Eggers
• Direction • Tom Goossens
• Assistant director • Lennert Van Nuffel
• Original text • William Shakespeare
• Composition • Otto Nicolai / Vaughan Williams / Giuseppe Verde
• Scenography • Anne van Es / Tom Goossens
• Costume design • Lena Mariën
• Light design • Luc Schaltin