*** Recommended I really enjoyed Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival’s joyful, fanciful and creative production of Shakespeare’s complicated comedy, As You Like It. Although I always enjoy watching the lovers of Arden Forest trying to figure it all out, there were times –usually when the actors turned their backs to the audience – when we couldn’t hear what they were saying. The script does include one of my absolute favorite soliloquys, “All the world’s a stage …” but three hours is just too long. 3 Spotlights
A note: In this production, Duke Senior becomes Duke Seena, Oliver de Boys becomes Olivia. As a Shakespeare purist, I think the script/characters should stay the way they were written. If a director wants to cast a woman in a part written for a man or vice versa, that’s fine with me (Shakespeare did that, after all), but the character’s name should remain as written.
Julia Valen (left), Abigail Gillan, director Sara Holdren, TayLar, Sarah Scanlon (sitting), Brennan Caldwell & Felix Teich. Photo provided by Universit of Notre Dame
In a Duchy somewhere, Duke Frederick (George Azcárate) seized power by banishing his sibling, Duke Seena (TayLar). For some reason, he allowed her daughter, Rosalind (Julia Valen) to remain at court as a companion to his daughter, Celia (Abigail Gillan), but the cousins are more like sisters.
Meanwhile, in another part of the duchy, Orlando (Felix Teich), who is tired of being less than a servant, confronts his older sister, Olivia (April Sellers). Since she hates her brother, she throws him and their loyal servant, Adam (Mary Neufeld) out, so Orlando decides to go to court to wrestle in the Duke’s contest. When he and Rosalind spot each other, it’s love at first sight. The Duke is enraged when Orlando beats his champion, Charles (Tim Merkle), but he totally loses it when he finds out that Orlando is the son of his enemy, and banishes him.
When Duke Frederick abruptly banishes Rosalind, Celia decides to go along Donning men’s clothes, Rosalind calls herself Ganymede, while Celia becomes Ganymede’s sister, Aliena. The fool, Touchstone (Brennan Caldwell), goes into exile with them. In Arden Forest, they buy a cottage from an old shepherd, Corin (Mary Neufeld).
Duke Seena, accompanied by a few courtiers, has put together a home of sorts in the Forest. One of the courtiers, the melancholy Jacques (Sarah Scanlon), broods over everything. When a desperate young man (Orlando) and his exhausted servant ask for food, the Duke recognizes him as the son of her dear friend and offers hospitality.
Once the main characters get to Arden Forest, things got really interesting. Brightly colored puppets made an appearance – deer, a stag, the Lord of the Forest. Several cast members picked up instruments while another sang the songs Shakespeare wrote for As You Like It:
- Under the Greenwood Tree, celebrating the good life in the forest;
- Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Amiens’ brooding take on life;
- What shall he have that killed the deer, the huntsman carefully binding the legs of a papier mache deer for easier carrying followed by leaping deer (held by cast members) ‘dancing’ around a giant papier mache stag;
- It was a lover and his lass – celebrating the weddings to come.
Also appearing in As You Like It, Gabriel Armstrong (Monsieur LeBeau/Amien/Ensemble, Morgan Ford (Madame LeBeau/Diana/Ensemble, Meliza Gutierrez (Second Lord to Duke Frederick/Phebe/Ensemble), Dominic Keene (William/Jack de Boys/Ensemble), Noah Sim (First Lord to Duke Frederick/Silvius/Ensemble), Mark Young (Third Comrade to Duke Seena/Deer/Sir Oliver Martext/Hymen/Ensemble.
As You Like It runs through September 1st at the Patricia George Decio Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Notre Dame, IN. Parking is free. Running time is approximately 3 hours with an intermission. Performances are Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 & 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets range from $10-$75. FYI www.shakespare.nd.edu