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Reviews University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts presents By William Shakespeare Directed by Rinda Frye Reviewed by Cory Vaughn Entire contents copyright © 2009, Cory Vaughn, all rights reserved.
As You Like It is arguably the lightest and most benign of Shakespeare's comedies, and undoubtedly one of his most entertaining. Dismissed by some as a mere crowd-pleaser compared with the Bard's more important works, it has endured and become one of the most performed plays in the Shakespearean repertoire. And it still possesses the ability to please crowds, such as the sell-out crowd at University of Louisville's Thrust Theatre on Friday night, where it is being presented by the University's Department of Theatre Arts this weekend only. The plot, for those unfamiliar with Shakespeare, is this: Rosalind and her cousin Celia, the daughters of the rightful Duke of France and his usurping sister, respectively, are banished from the corrupted court by its tyrannical new sovereign and flee to the nearby Forest of Arden, disguised as commoners (Rosalind as a man, no less); also in the Forest (by coincidence) is the young aristocrat Orlando, in love with Rosalind and too tongue-tied to woo her. Of course they do meet up, but keep in mind Rosalind is in disguise. While in the Forest, they meet the deposed Duke, his melancholy Lord Jacques, and pithy court jester Touchstone, and of course they must encounter a series of romantic and comical complications before all can end well for young love. This is the second local production this season – indeed, the second in as many months – to transport Shakespeare to the turbulent 1960s. Alas, I missed out on Actors Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I have read it and seen many previous productions, and the similarities between Midsummer and Like It are several. Both take place at least partly in a pastoral setting, both involve courtly young lovers fleeing to the woods and returning with a better understanding of themselves, both have the lovers "finding" themselves despite various obstacles (there the machinations of bungling fairies, here the disguises of its two leading ladies), and both feature a fool who speaks with the voice of the wise man while commenting on and often mocking the impetuousness of youth and romanticism (there Puck, here Jacques). The fool in As You Like even makes what I suspect is a reference to Bottom in Midsummer. In summation, it's appropriate, so to speak, that both would be presented in the 60s back-to-back. The difference, of course, is that Midsummer celebrated its adoptive time period's rock and roll roots by disguising its Fairy King and Queen as rock idols (including an Oberon done up like Jimi Hendrix), whereas As You Like It is more of a piece with the gentle asceticism of the Flower Power culture, with the exiles in the Forest of Arden presented as colorful hippies and the Dukes and their courtiers back in town as uptight squares. Then there are Rosalind and her cousin Celia, who fall somewhere in-between; even during their palace days, they are just the slightest bit hipper and more colorful than the other stiffs at court. The director, Rinda Frye, envisions Rosalind and Celia as hippies before their time, and is assisted in translating that vision to the stage by costume designer Zhanna Goldenthul. If you have seen any of Frye's previous Shakespearean productions at UofL, you already know that she has a gift for internalizing the Bard's text in her young actors (I speak from experience, having worked with her before), as well as a propensity for modernizing and gender-bending the plays. You'll find all of the above here. The change of setting has already been addressed. I didn't mind it, although I think the former novelty of hearing Shakespeare's language in a modern setting has quite frankly worn off by now. The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival recently presented a Romeo and Juliet that, while not technically set in the right era, at least looked and sounded like Shakespeare, and proved in the process that Shakespeare can still grip a contemporary audience without the trappings of superficial "modernity." As You Like It presents a special case: after the 2003 ATL production, which updated the setting to the modern Bluegrass State and disguised Rosalind in bib overalls and a UK basketball cap, and this one, which puts her in bell-bottoms and a peasant shirt, it would be nice to hear Rosalind refer to her "doublet and hose" and for once be able to take her seriously. The gender-bending is a more complicated matter. Women playing male characters and vice-versa don't bother me; Frye herself gave a bravura turn as Titus Andronicus two years ago, and I had the honor of being directed by her in Troilus and Cressida, playing not merely a woman, but Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman who ever lived! But undermining Shakespeare's intent where a character's gender is concerned carries a different set of risks. Case in point: transforming the younger usurping Duke Frederick into a Duchess Freda diminishes one of the playwright's key themes in this play, that of honor and betrayal among brothers (not brothers and sisters), mirrored in the storyline of Orlando, also disinherited and driven to exile by the schemes of a jealous and greedy brother, Oliver. Despite Amy Cotterill's fine, fierce thesis performance as the villainous Freda, the alteration of the character still plays as unnecessary. The production is well-cast, for the most part, with students in various stages of their theatre studies; mostly first-, second-, and third-year grad students in the leads and underclassmen in support and walk-on roles. Tiffany LaVoie (so good last summer as Juliet's Nurse in the aforementioned Romeo and Juliet) is an exquisite Rosalind, and at times I could almost completely believe her as a young man. Her occasional girl-talk sessions with partner-in-crime Celia (Elizabeth Tantanella, gloriously decked-out in love beats) are delicious. Among the supporting actors, Will Salmons (as Jacques the Melancholy) and Evan Williams (as Touchstone the Motley) are entertaining as the comic relief characters; Salmons is particularly good balancing the cynicism with the sadness in one of Shakespeare's most oft-quoted monologues (the one beginning "All the world's a stage.") Alack and alas, the romantic male leads are pretty standard-issue as written, with Shakespeare giving little for their portrayers to work with; Colby Ballowe does his best to liven up dreary, lovesick Silvius the shepherd with a Gomer Pyle accent and other quirky mannerisms, but Jared White is less successful with his cerebral, naturalistic approach to Orlando often coming across as monotonous. Even Rosalind has to admit, Orlando's is "a tedious homily of love," but to his credit, White improves in Act II as the machinations of plot exposition subside and the funny business begins to pick up a little. Another strong credit is Russell Willoughby's set, which consists of a series of platforms of various elevations, and a magnificently engineered weight-bearing apple tree that lends itself to an astonishing range of stage pictures and formations. The whole thing is framed by two tall tree-trunk wings and a colorful but unobtrusive mountainscape backdrop. And come to think of it, John Aurelius and Scott Whitehouse are also to be commended for setting Shakespeare's lyrics to truly lovely folk music, well-performed by the composers on their own instruments (flute and guitar, respectively) and by Jacqueline Thompson, in splendid voice as she leads the cast on the simple but arresting vocal lines. On the whole, an enjoyable evening. PS – Owing, I've no doubt, to the precarious economy, the biographies of the actors and creative staff have been banished to the Theatre Arts Department's website to cut costs on program printing. Ironic, in a show about being banished! The bios can be found at the following website: louisville.edu/a-s/ta
As You Like It
Playing at the Thrust Theatre
Remaining Performances:
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Posted Nov. 21, 2009
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