Basic setting, designed by Franco Zeffirelli for Verdi's opera, Falstaff, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1961.

Director Franco Zeffirelli designed the settings, costumes and lighting for his own production of Falstaff, which opened at Covent Garden on 10 May 1961. One basic set, which reminded reviewers of 'some galleried, half-timbered inn courtyard - as it might be the George at Southwark' (The Times, 11 May 1961), could be converted into the opera's five locations. Painted panels were added to the main structure to suggest the half-timbering, appropriate for both the exterior of Ford's house and the interior of the Garter Inn. Tapestries and a full length window were introduced for the interior of Ford's house. At its most basic, with the addition of an inn sign, it became the exterior of the Garter. The open tread stairs remained a constant throughout, partially hidden by bushes for exteriors. For the final scene in Windsor Forest Herne's Oak stood centre stage, but reviewers were disappointed when the oak was flown out on the entry of the fairies so that the opera could end in the inn courtyard.

Though first night reviews were not overwhelmingly positive, critics enjoyed the Falstaff of Geraint Evans and the production proved popular with audiences and was revived throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The final performances were in 1978.