Saturday, February 26, 2011

"As You Like It" - Richmond Shakespeare Festival, 2008


As You Like It
by William Shakespeare
Richmond Shakespeare Festival
July 2008



Buoyed by a triumphant run in Richmond Shakespeare’s downtown venue, As You Like It moved outdoors for a limited two-week run at historic Agecroft Hall, a Tudor mansion relocated from England to the banks of the James River in the 1920s. The company was inflated from its original five to fifteen, necessitating a change in focus from small-cast frenetic energy to something larger-scale.

The tech remained largely the same, with the turning-benches enhanced with actual tree bark on their forest sides. The Agecroft stage, erected annually in the manor’s courtyard, is a small (16x20) thrust that struggled to contain the energy of the fifteen actors treading its boards. Doors up right and up left provided the main entrances, as well as voms leading through the floor seating into the downstage corners and a wide curtained opening up center. City entrances used the doors, country ones the voms, and the curtained area was used for meta-theatrical storytelling moments. The costumes were refinements of the downtown costumes, no longer needing the simplicity of quick-change fastenings.

The initial challenge was to bring ten new actors into roles that had already been very successfully portrayed by the five actors still in the company. We tackled this in two ways: first by bringing Julie Phillips, my Doctor Faustus collaborator, to serve in a co-directing capacity with fresh eyes, and second by emphasizing anew the ensemble generation of performance text. The new actors had new ideas (as did the old ones), and very few of the original production’s moments and “bits” were considered sacrosanct.

A couple big new ideas were added. To enhance the feel of the forest, actors who weren’t in the Arden scenes donned camouflaged ponchos and stood in as trees. (The slight sob of the weeping willow as she stood in place was a highlight, as was the Virginia creeper slowly clawing his way across the back wall.) And we used the curtained upstage area to act out in pantomime scenes that characters described, such as Orlando (Patrick Bromley)’s battle with the lion (Liz Blake), Oliver (Danny Devlin)’s wooing of Celia (Julia Rigby), and the evil Duke (Michael Dunn)’s abdication.

The scope of the production was much larger with the larger company, culminating in an enormous wedding celebration complete with traditional dances: all four couples sang “In the Springtime” while alternating the Chicken Dance, Electric Slide, Macarena, and even the Soulja Boy for the four choruses.

As You Like It had a limited run of eight performances at Agecroft Hall.

Celia (Julia Rigby) listens as Oliver (Danny Devlin) tells his story of redemption. Photo by Eric Dobbs.


"Ganymede" (Sunny LaRose) carries "Aliena" (Julia Rigby) to the Forest of Arden, with precious little assistance from Touchstone (Adam Mincks). Photo by Eric Dobbs.



Touchstone (Adam Mincks) is "married badly" by Sir Oliver Mar-Text (Danny Devlin) to Audrey (Jennifer Vick), who is outfitted for the blessed occasion. Photo by Eric Dobbs.


The always-graceful and ladylike Phebe (Liz Blake) spurns the love of Silvius (Jake Allard). Photo by Eric Dobbs.


"If this be so, why blame you me to love you?" Silvius (Jake Allard), Phebe (Liz Blake), and "Ganymede" (Sunny LaRose) reach the climax of Shakespeare's complex love rectangle. Photo by Eric Dobbs.


Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Midsummer may be nearing, but the peak of the summer theater season at Agecroft Hall has just arrived.... In the lovely Tudor courtyard, Richmond Shakespeare Festival's reprise of "As You Like It" is a laugh-filled, updated take on the Bard's comedy.... [They] create a show that is full of contemporary style and plays hard for every laugh.... [Hamm] infuses the proceedings with all the subtlety of a Judd Apatow film. There's a strong physical component, whether comedy or combat (or spitting), and an especially clever use of upstage plays-within-the-play that enact some of the major speeches while they are delivered."

Style Weekly: " 'As You Like It' is a charming, funny production that bears the unique, often unexpected flavor that Richmond Shakespeare has spent 23 years stewing."

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