THEATER REVIEW: 'As You Like It'

Like any good magician, Shakespeare has a big bag of tricks. “As You Like It,” the current Asolo Conservatory production, revels in some of his romantic comedy favorites. These include cross-dressing, banishment, an enchanted forest and a massive marriage ceremony to end the play. Nobody does it like Shakespeare. But if you’ve ever seen a Shakespearen comedy, you’ve seen it before. How do you make the magic new?

Director Jonathan Epstein certainly asked himself this question.

His answer? Silks. Not as in costumes, as in circus-style silks — the kind of hanging silks from which Dolly Jacobs might glide. Instead of a forest Epstein employed ribbons of multicolored cloth and actors doing bits of business thereon.

I was dubious at first. Another Shakespearean gimmick? First caveman Shakespeare, now this. But it actually works.

“As You Like It” is a bravura display of verbal legerdemain. The action wrapped around the silks creates a counterpoint. While Shakespeare’s words razzle and dazzle, the swinging, climbing, acrobatic actors (all in  good shape) do too. (Kudos for movement specialist Eliza Ladd for some moving work.)

It all serves the story — or the 90-minute edited version of the story. But the familiarity with Shakespeare’s tropes helps.

The play is a skein of many threads. It’s full of dense, then-contemporary references, including digs at the fads for toothpicks, pastoral sentimentality and the hilarious notion of eternal love. But it’s basically “Twelfth Night” meets “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Boiled down: The jealous usurper Duke Frederick (Kevin Barber) banishes his older brother, Duke Senior (Mark Comer), and his merry men to the magical forest of Arden. (There’s a nod to Robin Hood within the play). The noble Orlando (Josh James) gets on the Duke’s bad side as well and flees into the forest and joins the band. The irritable Duke also banishes his niece, Rosalind (Kelsey Petersen). She flees with her loyal cousin, Celia (Ally Farzetta). Orlando’s fallen in love with Rosalind — and vice versa. Rosalind does the logical thing, and with the aid of a fake moustache and cross-dressing pretends to be a man to test his love or something. Touchstone (Tom Harney), the fool, says witty things. (He’s no fool.) The wandering, melancholy philosopher, Jacques (Chris Alexey Diaz), functions as Captain Bringdown and points out everyone’s faults and everything that could possibly go wrong. He gets the famous “All the world is a stage” speech. At the end of it all, basically everyone (with the exception of Jacques and a few shepherds) gets married.

There’s more to it than that, but that’s the bones and meat of the thing. Plot aside, it’s all about entertainment — the 17th century version of Bollywood. From fights to flights of fancy, this play has everything — including music. (Here, the songs work nicely to Jethro Tull-ish tunes by Kevin Barber.)
Pardon the dated reference, but Epstein reminds me of one of those plate-spinners on "The Ed Sullivan Show." He keeps the big plate of Shakespearean story spinning and then got a lot of other stuff up in the air (literally and figuratively). It’s a delightful tour de force and never comes crashing down.

The play’s grab bag of entertainment styles make it an ideal training ground for the conservatory’s second-year students. Each young actor gets a set-piece and gets to shine. There isn’t room to list them all, so I’ll stick with standouts. Tom Harney’s Touchstone is a manic, hip, 17th century comedian. James Orlando is high-spirited and fearless — a noble character in the original sense. Petersen’s Rosalind is feminine, then not feminine, then feminine-pretending-to-be-masculine-pretending-to-be-feminine as she puts Orlando through various mind games. Kim Stephenson has a funny bit as Phoebe, a love-struck shepherdess (Rosalind’s male persona being the love object) who gets tangled up in the silks and a soliloquy. Speaking of which, Farzetta hilariously delivers Celia’s soliloquy as a rap ditty (one of many creative anachronisms). Diaz Jacques smartly conveys the mind of a philosopher. He sees too much and knows too much and doesn’t trust the giddy happiness of the feel-good forest. That’s just a sample of the stunning performances. Kudos also to Danielle Renella and Rob Glauz for their outlandish costumes and Brandon Maldonado and Kelly Smith for their otherworldly sound and light. No weak links at all.

Epstein (a Shakespearean language guru) wove Shakespeare’s words through a variety of contemporary accents and idioms. He translated the action through a Cirque du Soleil sensibility. In the hands of the right director cast and crew, Shakespeare never gets old. He was in good hands here.

That’s magic enough.

IF YOU GO
“As You Like It” runs through Jan. 18, at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call 351-8000 or visit asolorep.org/conservatory ‎for more information.