This is the 29th summer of Commonwealth Shakespeare’s Company’s FREE production of Shakespeare on Boston Common and it is, indeed, AS YOU LIKE IT. I like it too! Directed by CSC’s Artistic Director Steven Maler, this is an exuberant, out of the box, big as all outdoors production of one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies. Here the Forest of Arden is a jungle where pairs of lovers and royal brothers are banished by jealous despots and relegated to the wilds of nature where anything can happen and does. A world away from the corruption of court, identities and fortunes shift, new paths are forged, and love grows on trees!
PHOTO/NILE SCOTT
More rambunctious than romantic, this AS YOU LIKE IT boasts hardy performances by a cast of veterans and newcomers in dazzling possession of Shakespeare’s verse. Michael Underhill, who’s grown into a robust and effective Shakespearean performer, owns the stage as Orlando, the despised younger brother of Oliver, played by the exceptional Joshua Olumide. Orlando has been raised as a bit of a brute, but his muscularity soon brings him to court where he defeats Duke Frederick’s champion in an exceedingly entertaining and acrobatic wrestling match (Thanks, Ryan Winkles), then flees to the Forest of Arden to escape his murderous brother. Arden is also the refuge of another brother, Duke Senior, brother of Duke Frederick, who has seized the throne and banished him. Maurice Emmanuel Parent delivers a dextrous, dual performance. None of this has escaped Duke Senior’s daughter Rosalind who has been instantly smitten by Orlando and now finds herself banished along with her father to Arden where, disguised as a boy named Ganymede, she pursues the besotted Orlando.
Nora Eschenheimer is splendidly omnisexual: a giddy and witty Rosalind, her ardor barely contained as she buckles herself into her boisterous male persona. Her Ganymede is clearly “attracted to” and “attractive to” an increasingly confused Orlando who wears his heart on his sleeve and hangs his love poems on trees. Their scenes are dizzyingly choreographed up and down and all around a multitiered set, leaving them and us breathless. Clara Hevia as Rosalind’s cousin Celia is an effervescent cohort in this romantic escapade as love erupts all around them: brothers and mismatched lovers, shepherdesses and servants, fools and philosophers collide in the thicket of possibility that is Arden. John Kuntz’s Touchstone is smooth as a razor as he charms Audrey, a delighted country wench played by Kandyce Whittingham. Brooks Reeves never puts a foot wrong, getting laughs even when reclining as Orlando’s elderly loyal servant Adam. Two quibbles–Paul Michael Valley doesn’t quite find his footing as Jaques, a complicated role not easily absorbed into the action. Jared Troilo as Amiens can really sing but would sound even better if these songs had music.
Ultimately, it all hangs on Shakespeare’s language which, with the aid of text coach Bryn Boice and Steven Maler’s insightful direction, sits lucidly on the lips of these nimble actors, cutting through the noise of the day here in the heart of the city–our own Arden– where wrongs are righted, and love blooms! “All the world’s a stage,” but here it is just as we like it.
ENJOY “AS YOU LIKE IT ” FREE on Boston Common–through August 10!
