The Merry Wives of Windsor

Merry Wives was one of the first Shakespearean plays to be performed once the theatres re-opened in 1660 after the Interregnum. Samuel Pepys saw the King’s Company act it on 6 Dec. 1660, and again in 1661 and 1667 (though he didn’t like it on any occasion). In 1702 John Dennis offered an adaptation (it has been called a ＂perversion＂) of the play, titled The Comical Gallant, or the Amours of Sir John Falstaff - which flopped. In 1824 Frederick Reynolds included Merry Wives in his series of operatic adaptations, with music by Henry Bishop.