[NEohioPAL] Berko review: AS YOU LIKE IT @ Great Lakes Theater

Roy Berko royberko at gmail.com
Tue Apr 8 09:34:58 PDT 2014


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*"As You Like It" comedic farce delights at Great Lakes Theater*



Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)



What do the phrases, "all the world's a stage" and "too much of a good
thing" have in common?  They are both quotes from Shakespeare's pastoral
comedy "As You Like It."  As is true of that genre, the play, which was
written early in 1600, deals with shepherds and the rustic life, but, also
concerns love, in its various forms.



"As You Like It" is  one of the Bard's most famous works and, as presented
at Great Lakes Theater, one that delights an audience.



The plot seems complicated, but, as is true of many of Shakespeare's works
of exile and romance, which are meant to entertain, there is a great deal
of farcical slapstick, overly wrought lovers who find bliss by the time the
final curtain falls, and what seems confusing is, in fact, simplistic.



The plot:  Frederick has taken over and exiled his older brother, Duke
Senior.  The Duke's daughter, Rosalind, has been allowed to stay in the
castle to be a companion to her cousin Celia.  In a parallel plot, Orlando,
whose wealthy father has died, is denied his part of his father's estate by
his older brother.  The stories join when Rosalind and Orlando fall in
love, but their connection is broken when the Duke has a change of heart
and exiles Rosalind.  Celia and Rosalind steal away to the forest where
Duke Senior is ensconced with a group of his followers.  Rosalind, is
dressed as a male, a common Shakespearean theatrical device of hidden
identities.   Add a jester, a couple of sheppards, some chance encounters,
some twists and turns, lots of farcical shticks, more music than is normal
for Shakespearean play, and a happy ending.  Of course, to quote the Bard,
"All's well that ends well."



Great Lakes Theater's production, under the direction of Edward Morgan, is
entertaining, but doesn't seem to fulfill Morgan's director's notes.  He
has reinvented the play, he contends, by changing its setting to America,
which he feels, "gives the text new resonance."



Morgan writes that the play starts in New England, in the midst of the
second Industrial Revolution, not long after the start of the 20th century.
"The Forest of Arden is in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains.  The
villains are greedy, thriving Industrialists."  "Rosalind and Orlando are
the new Americans."  "Rosalind becomes a kind of metaphor for American
womanhood."  The Elizabethan songs have been replaced "with tunes that echo
these themes through Yankee sentiment and syncopation."



Though he philosophizes those goals, starting the play with a metal
grinding scene, does not an industrial revolution make.   How are we to
know that is his intent?  None of the language of Shakespeare's script
carries the "industrial revolution" message nor any implication of the
villains as "greedy Industrialists."



The music insertions, though many create the right mood, do not all fit the
time period described.



Rosalind, rather than being a metaphor for the liberated woman, follows the
historical, tried and true path of putting a man (Orlando) above all else
and gets her desire, not a career, but a marriage.



If Morgan wanted to really reimagine the play he needed to add dialogue
that makes his message clear.  He would not have been the first to add to,
or delete the Bard's words.



All theorizing aside, the production delights.  Martin Céspedes's
choreography, which is evident throughout, is creative and brought applause
from the audience.  Especially endearing is the soft-shoe tap dance of
Touchstone (Dustin Tucker), the court fool.  Also creative is the dance at
the end of the play in which Céspedes has developed character identifying
moves for each couple.



The pacing, the visual images, the Borsht-belt shticks, and the
performances are all top notch.



The petite and talented Betsy Mugavero, makes for a radiant Rosalind.  Though
she doesn't really look like the "man" she is supposed to play during her
"disguised" segments, she is right for the Shakespeare habit of sex
switching.  (Interestingly, during the Bard's time the task was easy, as
young boys played the female roles.)



Handsome and gym-toned Torsten Johnson is a physically strong, yet gentle
Orlando.  Johnson and Mugavero have a wonderful interpersonal chemistry
that makes their love-in-bloom scenes engaging.



Dustin Tucker, who has a remarkable resemblance to old vaudeville performer
Red Buttons, delights as the Court Fool.  He does slapstick exceedingly
well.



The rest of the cast develops appropriate characterizations.



Russell Metheny's set designs and Rick Martin's lighting help in developing
the story.  Kim Krumm Sorenson's costumes often confuse.  They don't always
develop the era depicted.  Her backwoods inhabitant's costumes, however,
are character right.



*Capsule judgement: Great Lakes Theater's "As You Like It," though it
doesn't *

*fully develop director Edward Morgan's philosophical objectives, is
delightful.  The many students who will attend should go away with a very
positive concept of the Shakespearean comedy at its best. *



"As You Like It" runs from April 9-14, 2014 at the Hanna Theatre.  For
tickets go to: 216-664-6064 or www.greatlakestheater.org


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<http://www.greatlakestheater.org/>
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