Monday, July 21, 2025

As You Like It (Shakespeare By The Sea's 2025 Production) Theatre Review

If you want to add a great deal of joy to your summer evening, check out Shakespeare By The Sea's current production of As You Like It. But don't wait long, because the company's summer season is coming to a close soon. This production, directed by Suzanne Dean, is an absolute delight from start to finish, and it features an incredibly strong cast. At the heart of the production are two of its best performances, those by Savannah Moffat as Rosalind and Brendan Robert Kane as Orlando. If you want to experience the wonder and joy and excitement of love at first sight, watch these two become immersed in that magic. You can't help but become immersed too.

The production begins with the company delivering the first few lines of Jaques' famous speech from Act II Scene vii: "All the world's a stage,/And all the men and women merely players./They have their exits and their entrances,/And one man in his time plays many parts." It's interesting, because the actors are basically announcing that they are actors, but the lines also encompass everyone in the audience as well, so it's a way of pulling everyone together in a common bond right at the start. And then they quickly get into the first scene, with Orlando and Adam, the latter played by Megan Ruble. Yes, a young woman playing an old man, and doing a delightful job. When Oliver (Will Mueller) enters, the state of the relationship between the two brothers is made immediately apparent. When Orlando says, "Nothing. I am not taught to make anything," he avoids making eye contact with Oliver, a nice touch and a great delivery. And his "He was my father" is spoken with pride. And though Oliver is the villain here, there is a wonderful moment when he admits that he doesn't know why he hates his brother, and Will Mueller does an especially good job with that line. It's important, because later in the play we have to believe that he's changed and become a better person, and Mueller does a great job of showing us the possibility of such transformation in that early moment.

The set includes a banner that reads, "East Of Arden: Everyone Welcome." But after that first scene a different sign is displayed: "Duke Frederick's Land: Dissenters Will Be Banished." There is clearly a great humor to that sign, but part of the humor comes from the all-too-real fear of the current fascist state of our country. A carnival atmosphere is established leading to the wrestling bout. Celia (Amanda Godoy) is especially excited about the wrestling. Godoy does a tremendous job of getting close to the top without ever going over in her performance, not an easy thing to do, and there is a great deal of humor in her facial expressions, her reactions to others (especially when Rosalind, dressed as Ganymede, speaks to Orlando), as well as to the delivery of her lines. When Orlando wrestles, he wears a mask, both keeping his identity a secret and making us think of those classic wrestlers, only taking it off on his "Orlando, my liege" line to Duke Frederick (Alec Yamartino). It is Le Beau (Phoebe Alva) who rings a bell to start the match. Charles (Christian Skinner) runs off when he loses, a funny and believable reaction.

When Rosalind is banished by Duke Frederick, her line "your mistrust cannot make me a traitor" stands out, again in part because of the perilous state of our nation. Celia takes Rosalind's hand, which is both a comforting act and a defiant one. It's a wonderful moment. Celia is so good as she comes up with her plan to visit her uncle in the forest, and Rosalind's joy at coming up with the idea of dressing as a man is delightful. Celia enters the forest on the back of Touchstone (Jonathan Fisher). On Rosalind's "comfort the weaker vessel," she indicates Celia with her hand.  And Celia is hilarious as Touchstone speaks. She is on the ground, looking out of place and unhappy. She also makes Touchstone carry her out at the end of the scene. A little later Orlando carries Adam on, making Adam's "I can go no further" particularly funny.

Orlando is adorable as he tries to speak to Rosalind but finds he can't. Brendan Robert Kane does a fantastic job at showing the very moment when he realizes he's in love. It is really that moment when we fall in love with both of them. And later when he affixes his verse to various trees, he really throws himself into the action with great joy, even running through the audience. This production contains several references to modern music, as when Orlando enters singing a bit of "L-O-V-E" ("L is for the way you look at me"), or when Silvius sings a bit of The Beatles' "I Will" to Phoebe. There are also bits of "Here Comes The Sun" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" near the end. Music is an important element to this play, and these nods to modern music actually seem to fit perfectly. Much of the music in this production is performed by Amiens (Christopher Diem) on vocals and guitar. And isn't music an important part of our own love stories? Don't you associate certain songs with certain loves from your life? Orlando and Rosalind are not the only couple in this wonderful play. By the end, there are multiple marriages, and the audience is cheering for all of them (that's how good this cast is). When we meet Silvius (Christian Skinner), he is lovesick for Phoebe (Megan Ruble), running through the audience repeating her name. And when we first meet Audrey (Phoebe Alva), she is eating an apple, and Touchstone, in his own version of wooing, bites her apple. Later when he describes Audrey as "a poor virgin" to Duke Senior, he winks at Audrey on the word "virgin." For, hey, it's not all innocence in the forest.

Jaques (Alec Yamartino) is so happy when he tells the others how he met a fool in the forest. And during his famous speech (the one we got a taste of at the very beginning of the performance), he goes to different characters for each age, at least at first, using them as perhaps unwilling players in his own little play, another nice touch. And on his "sans teeth," Adam is led in by Orlando, and Jaques looks toward him as an example of that final act of man, a wonderful touch. Touchstone and Corin (Caleb Towns) are both excellent in that scene where they talk about court life versus country living. Particularly funny are Touchstone's expressions when describing a shepherd's life. Then, as Celia reads from one of Orlando's verses, Touchstone joins her in reading it, which is quite funny. On Rosalind's "one that knew courtship too well," she gently touches one of Orlando's verses on the tree, which is perfect. This production is full of wonderful moments like that. I love that Orlando takes a brief moment to consider Rosalind's offer before accepting it. Another wonderful bit comes when Rosalind is describing Phoebe. We hear a hint of attraction in her delivery of "cheek of cream," which is both surprising and funny. And later, we see hints of attraction from Phoebe to Silvius as Silvius describes love, a really nice touch, particularly because we want those two to be together.

Rosalind puts great emphasis on the word "now" in "how now, Orlando" when Orlando enters, a nice way of showing her irritation at his being late. And that irritation is in wonderful contrast to Orlando's excitement at being there. But Rosalind's irritation disappears quickly, and she is delighted and delightful as she tells him, "Come, woo me." In that scene, there is a nice moment when Orlando and Rosalind sit together at the edge of the stage, this being on the "men have died...but not for love" speech. It reminded me of a moment from this company's other current production, Julius Caesar, when Brutus and Cassius likewise sit at the edge of the stage. In both productions, these are intimate moments of friendship. And what I love about that is that it shows that Orlando and Rosalind can be close friends as well as lovers (when it inevitably comes to that), this moment giving the audience the sense that their relationship is based on more than just physical attraction. And it is perhaps then that we believe that love at first sight can also be everlasting love. What could bring us more joy than that?

As You Like It runs through July 25, 2025. There is one intermission, which comes at the end of Act III Scene ii. Last night's performance was at Garfield Park in South Pasadena, but the company performs in various parks all over Los Angeles County and Orange County. Visit the Shakespeare By The Sea website for the full schedule. Performances are free, but there is plenty of merchandise available to help support the company.

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