Nearly 387 years after his death, William Shakespeare’s legacy remains in the spotlight. His complete works – some 45 comedies, histories, tragedies and poems – are performed in cities all over the world, including Columbus.

In its 22nd season, Columbus’ own Shakespearean-based Actor’s Theatre Company will perform the play “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” for the first time since 1989.

The five-act comedy is the most “English” of all Shakespeare’s plays and is one of the most marvelously slapstick comedies ever written, brimming with zany characters and crazy situations from beginning to end, said Noel Koran, artistic director of the ATC and former Ohio State professor.

Considered to be one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, “The Merry Wives of Windsor” contains the highest proportion of prose of any of Shakespeare’s plays.

Throughout the course of the comedy, Sir John Falstaff is repeatedly humiliated as he flirts with two married women (Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page), in an attempt for financial gain, said Sara Pardo, a senior in vocal performance.

“The situations Falstaff gets himself into are what make the play so funny,” Pardo said. “He’s trying to be Rico Suave but nobody’s fooled by him.”

Pardo performed in Giuseppe Verde’s opera “Falstaff,” based on the text of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” last year in New York City.

“For example, in the play, he sends identical love letters to Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page, and as a result, ends up thrown into a dirty ditch and beaten while in disguise as a fat woman,” Pardo said.

” ‘Merry Wives’ is truly the forerunner of the ‘Monty Python’ school of humor,” Koran said.

The play, performed in Elizabethan style costumes, will be performed in the Schiller Park Theatre.

The aged theatre, an outdoor facility in German Village’s Schiller Park, is home to the ATC summer Shakespeare season.

“Schiller Park is a perfect theatre for Shakespeare,” said Ohio State senior and music education major Jeff Rone.

Rone and his friends recently attended the theatre for the ATC’s performance of “As You Like It,” the first production of the 2003 summer season.

“If you catch the show on a good day, weather-wise, the atmosphere couldn’t be better,” said Rone.

Performances begin at at 8 p.m. and run Thursdays through Sundays

“The Merry Wives of Windsor” runs through Aug. 24 . Admission is free and donations are encouraged.