Sir John Falstaff, knowing that Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page control the money in their respective households, decides to seduce them, but they learn of his scheme and resolve to make a fool of him. A comic series of disguises and misadventures follows. This program views the Merry wives of Windsor as Shakespeare's attack on middle class propriety and hypocrisy. He challenges the belief that fidelity is mere lip service and a result of arranged, loveless...

"From Harold Bloom, one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time as well as a beloved professor who has taught the Bard for over half a century, an intimate, wise, deeply compelling portrait of FalstaffShakespeares greatest enduring and complex comedic character." --

"Year of the Fat Knight is Antony Sher's account -- splendidly supplemented by his own paintings and sketches -- of researching, rehearsing and performing one of Shakespeare's best-known and most popular characters. He tells us how he had doubts about playing the part at all, how he sought to reconcile Falstaff's obesity, drunkenness, cowardice and charm, how he wrestled with the fat suit needed to bulk him up, and how he explored the complexities...