The cast of “As You Like It” at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.
Daryl Cloran’s adaptation of “As You Like It” may not be the absolute best of the several dozen shows I’ve seen at the Shakespeare Theatre Company over the past decade or so, but it is certainly the most delightful.
…most delightful…With no dull moments and constant surprises, this enchanting production feels much shorter than its run time. This is one not to miss.
Arrive early. The 1960s-set production opens on the set of one of those low-budget syndicated wrestling shows that aired during that decade. Between the opening of the house and the first line from Shakespeare’s text, Cloran’s company puts on a crazily authentic re-enactment. Charles the Wrestler gets just eight lines in the play itself, but Marco Walker-Ng, with a leotard that’s too snug and an attitude that’s too smug, dominates the ring and this raucous pre-show.
Walker-Ng is also the production’s dance captain and Cloran put him to work. Since this version is a musical starring the songs of The Beatles, “As You Like It” it is stuffed with episodic scenes of silliness which makes the insertion of the song-and-dance numbers relatively seamless. Cloran did not want to create another jukebox musical. He has said that when he was creating the show which first opened in Chicago five years ago. “It really felt, as I went through, that these songs were written for this play.”
The songs never do feel shoehorned in. It helps that “As You Like It” is already full of verses and wordplay and the Bards of Liverpool offer 212 songs from which to choose. They are rarely sung in complete form here, but rather in selected segments that drive the story which, again, differs from the traditional “jukebox” sub-genre. Roughly two dozen Beatles songs, from the 1962’s “Love Me Do” through the 1970’s “Let It Be,” have been selected from their vast catalog.
Chelsea Rose as Rosalind and Jeff Irving as Orlando deftly manage the tricky task of embracing the silliness swirling around them, adding a good bit of their own while still driving the narrative forward. Kayvon Khoshkam keeps his energy up all evening, first as the loquacious emcee during the wrestling broadcast and then as the equally talkative Touchstone. Emma Slipp plays his shepherdess love, Audrey, with cheerful vivacity.
Touchstone also occasionally breaks the fourth wall to explain in exasperation that the latest absurd action was necessary “because it’s Shakespeare.” It’s not just the addition of the Beatles songs that make this adaptation unique. There are several scenes where dialogue has been tweaked or added. Orlando’s poems, for instance, have become Lennon/McCartney lyrics. Jaques recites the surreal words of “I am the Walrus” with the same solemnity in which he delivers his famous “all the world’s a stage” speech.
Shakespeare has his “problem plays” and, in some ways, Jaques is a “problem character.” He somehow manages to both seem perfectly at home and completely out of place in the play where Shakespeare injected him. Andrew Cownden, dressed a bit like Andy Warhol, handles this balance well. It’s rare to see a Jaques show the joy that Cownden does in his dialogues with Touchstone and his sparring with Orlando is good-natured, not censorious. When he wanders off at the end of the play to seek enlightenment, Cownden leaves the feeling that this Jaques will find it.
Alexandra Lainfiesta is another standout as tough-minded Phoebe who becomes besotted with Rosalind in her disguise as a man. Lainfiesta also plays the combative ringside girl, Eleanor Rigby, in the pre-show.
The technical aspects of the production are excellent. There are just two major scene changes, but whenever there might be a lull in the action, a band appears to play a few riffs to distract and entertain. With no dull moments and constant surprises, this enchanting production feels much shorter than its run time. This is one not to miss.
Running Time: Two hours and 40 minutes with one intermission.
“As You Like It” runs through January 7, 2024 at the Sidney Harman Hall at Shakespeare Theatre Company, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. For more information and to purchase tickets, please go online.
