**** Highly Recommended **** As You Like It might be my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies. All of the elements are here – young love, not-so-young love, good vs evil siblings, people wandering about in the forest, and … wrestling? So, idea-guy (actually he’s the director) Daryl Cloran and Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival (Vancouver, BC) took those ingredients, moved the whole thing into the 60s, 
added Beatles songs and came up with a winner! I loved everything about Chicago Shakespeare’s delightful production – the cast, the set, the musicians rocking on stage, the way the words in the songs seemed to fit right into Shakespeare’s dialog. 4 BIG Spotlights
When you go, don’t linger in the lobby too long, there’s a surprise pre-performance you’ll want to see. Touchstone (Kayvon Khoshkam) announces the wrestling matches in his own inimitable tongue-in-cheek style. In the ring, Danny ‘The Boy’ O’Leary (Adam Wesley Brown), Assassin (Kurt Schweitz) and the Champion, Charles (Austin Eckert), posture and pose while the ‘always lonely’ Eleanor Rigby (Heidi Kettenring) attached herself to a winner, any winner! Duke Frederick (Kevin Gudahl) has offered a huge prize to anyone who can beat his champion. It’s all about Money (That’s What I want)!
Rosalind (Lakeisha Renee) and Celia (Melanie Brezill through 11/14, Ayanna Bria Bakari beginning 11/16), cousins as well as best friends even though Celia’s father, Duke Frederick wrested the Duchy from his older brother, Rosalind’s father. Rosalind had been allowed to stay at court as a companion to Celia, but the paranoid Duke banished her.
Orlando (Liam Quealy}, tired of being less than a servant, confronts his older brother, Oliver (Tony Carter) threw him out. Orlando went off to court where he spotted Rosalind just as she spotted him. Everything stopped as Touchstone sang She Loves You. Orlando is determined to wrestle the champion and win the prize money, but seizes a moment with Rosalind first as they sing I Want to Hold Your Hand.
When Rosalind is banished, Celia decided to go with her. Rosalind 
dons men’s clothing and becomes Ganymede, while Celia disguises herself as Ganymede’s sister, Aliena. The wild-haired Touchstone (Courtney Abbott) went with them into exile.
Suddenly, the wrestling ring vanishes, replaced by trees, lawn chairs and a VW bus. Duke Senior (Kevin Gudahl), accompanied by a few courtiers, has put together a home in Arden Forest. It was so much fun to see Gudahl playing a mean guitar, as he and the Forest Lords sang Help!
While all the banished are getting settled and meeting people in Arden Forest, the Forest Lords were singing: Silvius (Michael Dashefsky) sang I Saw Her Standing There; Amiens played and sang While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Jacques (Deborah Hay), a brooding courtier, entertained 
Duke Senior with l Am the Walrus, telling him that “All the world’s a stage …” before singing about The Fool on the Hill. Another Forest Lord followed up with Let It Be.
When a desperate young man (Orlando) asks for food, the Duke recognized him as the son of a dear friend and joyfully offers hospitality. Meanwhile, Touchstone has fallen head over heels in love with Audrey (Lachrisa Grandberry). When she accepted his proposal, they sang When I’m Sixty Four. Although she already has a lovesick suitor, Phoebe (Heidi Kettenring) falls in ‘love’ with Ganymede (Rosalind). Even Orlando’s older brother, Oliver, seeking his brother’s forgiveness, falls in love with a shepherdess (Celia). Believe it or not, everything works out in the end as everyone sings a rousing rendition of All You Need Is Love.
The Forest Lords of Arden (left to right: Austin Eckert, Jeff Kurysz, Adam Wesley Brown, Michael Daniel Dashefsky, Kurt Schweitz jam to hits of the Beatles.
NOTE: Audience members must show proof of Vaccination (or Negative COVID-Test), either on a smartphone of a physical copy. Present a current Photo ID. Wear a mask at all times during their visit.
As You Like It runs through December 5th in the Courtyard Theatre at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, Chicago. Parking in CST’s designated area in the Navy Pier Garage is available at a 40% discount with validation from CST. Running time is 2 hours, 40 minutes, with an intermission.
Performances are Tuesdays, November 9th, 16th & 30th at 7:30 pm; Wednesdays, October 27th, November 3rd & 10th at 1:00 pm, November 10th, 17th & December 1st at 7:30 pm; Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 & 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm. Thanksgiving week, there be no performances on November 24th & 25th, with additional performances on Sunday, November 21st at 6:30 pm and Friday, November 26th at 2:00 pm.
Accessible performances: Open-captioned, Wednesday, November 10th at 1:00 and & 7:30 pm; ASL Duo-interpreted, Friday, November 19th at 7:30 pm; Audio-described, Sunday, November 21st at 2:00 pm.
Tickets range from $49-$90. FYI (312) 595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com/qchristmas.