As You Like It (Independent Shakespeare Company’s 2024 Production) Theatre Review

production photo by Grettel Cortes

“A fool, a fool, I met a fool i’ th’ forest,” Jacques exclaims with such joy and delight after having met Touchstone. And we in the audience completely understand that joy, for it’s what we feel during the entire performance of the Independent Shakespeare Company’s new production of As You Like It, directed by David Melville, who also plays Touchstone. This is one of the most enjoyable productions I’ve seen, from beginning to end. Actually, from even before the beginning, for if you arrive an hour or so early, you’ll have a chance to meet some of the characters before the play begins. And you might find yourselves exclaiming, “A company, a company, I met a theater company i’ th’ park.”

While usually the Independent Shakespeare Company performs two plays in Griffith Park each summer, this season just one is being presented. That is because, while construction is planned for a permanent stage in their regular spot, the company is performing in that smaller area farther up the hill. The play is performed in the round, the first time (at least as far as I can recall) this company had done so. One thing it accomplishes is freeing up a lot of space on the facing hill (what in previous years was part of the playing space) for the audience, allowing for a larger group to attend each performance. It also helps immerse the audience in the performance, for all entrances and exits are made through the crowd. Essentially it still is part of the playing space. The main section of the stage is a platform that spans the rock area, and which at the beginning is set up as a wrestling ring. There is another, smaller platform that functions as a bridge, basically over what had been Caliban’s home in ISC’s 2021 production of The Tempest. Audience members arriving in that area might also notice love notes attached to the branches of a tree. And, yes, if you get close enough, you can read them. Small chandeliers hang from other trees, and all of this helps establish for the audience that they are within the playing space.

Approximately an hour before the play starts, the fun begins, as characters begin mingling with those in the crowd. Duke Frederick (Pierre Adeli) speaks from the bridge to tell us citizens that the streets are safe again. “Under this administration, law and order have been restored,” he says. But the suit he wears puts us in mind of 1930s gangsters, so we don’t necessarily trust him. However, he is there to welcome us to the grand opening event of the wrestling plaza. And soon David Melville introduces Charles (William Elsman), saying that the masked wrestler is accepting challengers from the audience. All of this is hilarious, but it also gives us an idea of Charles as the champion that Orlando will be facing in the play, and also a clue as to how Charles might be defeated (again, get there early!).

Interestingly, as the play begins, the first person Orlando (Jack Lancaster) faces in the ring is his brother Oliver (Brent Charles) as the two argue. And being in the ring, Orlando does use a wrestling move on him, which gives the audience the sense that, yes, perhaps he can defeat Charles. William Elsman is hilarious as Charles, the wrestler taking on an over-the-top cocky stage persona which is perfect for the ring. What is particularly funny is that his voice completely changes whenever he removes the mask, as he momentarily drops his stage persona. While masked, he clearly feels he owns the space, even scolding audience members who have dared put blankets down where he aims to walk.

From the moment Rosalind (Jacqueline Misaye) and Celia (Bukola Ogunmola) enter, it is clear that they are close and are a pair to be reckoned with. We also see their differences. Both carry parasols, but Rosalind’s is open, while Celia’s is still closed. What’s particularly interesting about that is the open parasol has a more feminine flair, but it is Rosalind who will soon be donning male attire. Celia uses her closed parasol to spank Touchstone. This production has a lot of physical humor, which perhaps should come as no surprise, considering the play has a wrestling scene. Celia then opens her parasol when Madame Le Beau (Daisy Tichenor) enters. Le Beau, by the way, is particularly funny as she gets excited when speaking of broken ribs. In the text, the character is male, but changing the gender adds more humor to that speech and others. And besides, Daisy Tichenor is excellent in the role. Celia is great when stepping between her father and Rosalind and speaking in her defense. And I love Rosalind’s somewhat disgusted reaction to Celia’s idea of dressing in “poor and mean attire.” These two actors are a delight to watch, even when they are not speaking, for within their expressions is a lot of the production’s humor and joy. When they enter in their disguises, Rosalind is carrying a suitcase, while Touchstone is carrying Celia on his back, making Celia’s line about being able to go no further particularly funny.

While it is the friendship and love between cousins Rosalind and Celia that is at the heart of this production, the relationship of Rosalind and Orlando is central to the plot. And the two are adorable from their first meeting. He is the first to become speechless, and while he chastises himself for it, Rosalind says, “He calls us back.” It’s a wonderful moment, as she creates an excuse to return to him, for he did not call her back. And while then the two become speechless together (again, completely adorable), we get the sense that she will be the one who will take charge and be the creative force of their relationship. And so she does under the guise of Ganymede. By the way, she is magnificent when pretending to be a man. In addition the physical aspects of it, she clearly finds adopting the male persona to be freeing, to an extent that surprises and perhaps troubles Celia. It also surprises herself, but she seems cheered by this surprise. It feels like Ganymede might be a more natural side of herself. She seems more in the moment, and more capable of quick thought and action as Ganymede. And in some ways she is a more attractive personality as Ganymede. There is a great and telling moment late in the play when Orlando declares his love to her with more sincerity than before, and Rosalind, as Ganymede, asks who is it he is speaking to. We wonder if she in fact hopes that Orlando has fallen for Ganymede rather than for her Rosalind identity, for she has so taken to the role. And it seems Orlando might in fact confess such a love, for there is a brief pause before he catches himself and says, “To her that is not here.”

When Duke Senior, the banished duke, first appears, it is upon the bridge where first we saw Duke Frederick during those announcements before the show, a particularly nice touch as it is the same actor playing both parts. As Duke Senior, his demeanor is the very opposite of that of his brother, which again strikes us as even funnier when both characters are performed by the same actor. There is a brief musical interlude after that scene, giving Pierre Adeli the time needed to change back to Duke Frederick. Independent Shakespeare Company often does a great job of incorporating music into its productions, even beyond what is in the texts, perhaps most notably in last year’s disco version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Music becomes an important part of this production of As You Like It, the company making the most of the songs within the text, such as Jacques’ “ducdame, ducdame, ducdame” song, and adding to them. One of the funniest of all the musical moments in the performance is when Celia decides, regarding her new pastoral setting, “I like this place/And willingly could waste my time in it.” She then, alone on the stage, delivers a song in which she affirms that she is a country girl now. The other hilarious musical moment is when Audrey (Daisy Tichenor) sings of cleaning goat poo. Neither number is Shakespeare’s; both were written by David Melville.

Anyone who has attended an Independent Shakespeare Company production is well aware of David Melville’s knack for comedy. He does a fantastic job as Touchstone, the clown character of the play. When Touchstone is recalling an earlier love, he locates Jane Smile within the audience, sitting down next to her and addressing her directly, much to her surprise. And the scene of Touchstone and Corin (Daniel DeYoung) discussing country life is wonderful. But his best moments are with Audrey. Audrey is able to match his mastery of comedy, and her reactions as she watches Touchstone threaten William (Brian Tran) are delightful. Their moment toward the end is extended, and in it we learn that Audrey is a bit of a drinker. And as they resume their playful animal imitations, and then make good use of someone’s blanket, it occurs to us that theirs is perhaps the best relationship of the four sets of lovers. Or at least the most fun, while it lasts.

Another actor who really thrives in this comedic world is William Elsman, who, in addition to doing a superb job as Charles, plays Jacques, the lord of melancholy. As I mentioned earlier, he is delighted to have met Touchstone in the forest, and when describing him, looks back several times, as if hoping to spot him again. It is Jacques who delivers the most famous speech of the play. One thing I love about his delivery is that he gives the first line as a statement on its own, “All the world’s a stage.” He then steps onto the platform as if to prove his point, and only then continues the speech. He has the audience laughing, but by the end he has us more contemplative and sad, and has done it by degrees with us unaware of the change he has effected until the very end, at which point he lies down on the stage. Also surprisingly touching is the epilogue, which is delivered by Rosalind, as in the text, though here is sung. It is a beautiful ending to an absolutely delightful evening

This production of As You Like It runs through September 1st. There is one intermission, which comes at the end of Act III Scene ii. Visit the Independent Shakespeare Company’s website for the complete schedule. The show is free, but donations are encouraged.

Shakespeare Study: The Three Versions Of Hamlet

Recently, the Independent Shakespeare Company’s Iambic Lab focused on Hamlet, this year’s theme being “Hamlet, The Undiscovered Country.” One evening was dedicated to the First Quarto version, the so-called “Bad Quarto.” That got me even more interested in the different versions of the plays, so I made a few purchases. Here is what I’ve been reading this week.

Hamlet: The Texts of 1603 And 1623 by William Shakespeare – This is a volume in The Arden Shakespeare Third Series, and was edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor. It contains edited texts of the Q1 and Folio versions of the play. It is offered as a companion to The Arden Shakespeare Hamlet volume that contains Q2, and the editors assume readers of this book also have that one. Regarding differences in punctuation, the editors write, “Anthony Graham-White has observed that F adopts more complex punctuation than the quartos, not only because of its wish to be ‘literary’ but because punctuation had become more sophisticated by 1623 – particularly in relation to the intermediate marks, the colon and the semicolon” (p. 8). This volume attempts to limit emendations as much as possible. Regarding performing Q1, the editors write: “It is not hard to see why Q1 should be attractive to performers. It is fast, plot-driven and far less ruminative than the other texts. Its emotions are raw rather than mediated and it is more of an ensemble piece, not a showcase for a single star performer” (p. 16). Notes are contained at the bottom of each page, and there is a full page of notes regarding the character list. The note on the character of Hamlet in Q1 reads: “The hero is apparently a younger character in Q1 than in Q2/F, since in Scene 16 the Gravedigger tells us that Yorick’s skull has been in the ground ‘this dozen year’ (86) rather than ‘three and twenty years’ and omits the reference to Hamlet having been born 30 years ago; the implication is that he is now about 18. In addition to the stress on his youth in scenes 3 and 5, in the closet scene (Scene 11) Corambis refers to him as ‘young Hamlet’ (1) and the Queen addresses him as ‘boy’ (10)” (p. 43). A note regarding the second scene reads: “The King is more dominant questioning Hamlet in Q1; the Queen plays a larger part in Q2/F” (p. 55). The note regarding the King’s use of the world “adulterous” in the scene where he prays reads: “In Q2/F the King does not refer specifically to adultery; he concentrates on the murder, though he mentions the Queen as one of the ‘effects for which I did the murther’” (p. 127). This, to me, hints that their relationship began before the murder. The note regarding Hamlet’s line “but first we’ll make all safe” to his mother reads: “i.e. make sure we are not interrupted or overheard. In a piece of staging unique to Q1, Hamlet presumably makes some gesture towards checking or locking the door” (p. 129). Another note regarding the Hamlet/Gertrude scene reads: “This suggestion – that the Queen can compensate for her fault in marrying her murdered husband’s brother by helping her son to kill the murderer – is also unique to Q1” (p, 135). There are somewhat fewer notes to the Folio version contained in this volume. Regarding Hamlet’s line “Hold off your hand,” a note reads: “F’s singular hand perhaps implies that Hamlet is struggling with one of his companions while the other looks on, while Q2’s plural implies they are both trying to restrain him” (p. 208). The F reading is “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” I only came across “our” recently, and thought it might be a misprint, because every version I’d read and seen previously used the word “your” there. A note on that line reads: “Norton notes that Hamlet is ‘still trying to reconcile his own understanding with the supernatural revelations’. Edwards prefers Q1/2’s ‘your’, which he argues is a general term (as in ‘your whoreson dead body’ at 5.1.169-70) rather than a specific reference to Horatio’s skepticism” (p. 218). A note regarding Hamlet’s line “That I have shot mine arrow o’er the house/And hurt my mother” reads: “Oxf and Hibbard prefer Q2’s ‘brother’ which is supported by brothers’ wager at 200 and of course by the context more generally. Dowden, who prints ‘brother’, suggests tentatively that mother may nevertheless be ‘an afterthought of Shakespeare’ referring to the fact that the Queen requested Hamlet to make this apology – and he is perhaps apologizing for its less than candid quality; some gesture towards the Queen would be needed to indicate this in performance. This request, however, occurs only in Q2. Mother could also be taken within the metaphor ‘I have injured someone close to me’” (p. 351). This edition was first published in 2006. My copy is from the 2023 reprint.

Hamlet The First Quarto by William Shakespeare – This volume is A Scolar Press Facsimile, reproduced in the original size with permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. It is a facsimile of the British Museum copy of Q1, with the title page from the Huntington Library copy. There are no notes on the text. This volume was first printed in 1969, and reprinted in 1972.

Hamlet The Second Quarto by William Shakespeare – This volume is also A Scolar Press Facsimile, reproduced in the original size with permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. It is a facsimile of the British Museum copy of Q2, dated 1605. (Three of the surviving copies of Q2 are dated 1604, the others 1605.) The final leaf, missing from the British Museum copy, is a facsimile from the Capell copy in Trinity College. The book contains no notes on the text. This book was first printed in 1969, and reprinted in 1972.

Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood (Shakespeare By The Sea’s 2024 Production) Theatre Review

Shakespeare By The Sea is currently on the road, presenting two plays in parks all over Los Angeles and Orange County. This season is something special, for one of the plays they’ve chosen to present is an adaptation of Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood, part of the apocrypha. There is an intriguing story behind this play. Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporaries (both died in April 1616), though there is no evidence that they ever met. Cardenio is a character in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and also the name of a lost play that the King’s Men performed in 1613, based on the 1612 English translation of Cervantes’ work. As of 1653, The History Of Cardenio was attributed to William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, but there are no copies of the play. In 1727, Lewis Theobold claimed that his play Double Falsehood (published in 1728) was based on manuscripts he had of the lost play. Was he telling the truth? Theobold was known to imitate Shakespeare, so there is plenty of reason for doubt. What happened to those manuscripts? They were not found among Theobold’s possessions after his death. And even if he did own them, as he claimed, they might not have been copies of the original play, but of an adaptation by Thomas Betterton, making Double Falsehood an adaptation of an adaptation of a work possibly co-written by Shakespeare. This production put on by Shakespeare By The Sea is an adaptation by Jonathan Fisher and Anna Miles, and directed by Jonathan Fisher. So it is an adaptation of an adaptation of a possible adaptation of a work that was perhaps co-written by Shakespeare, itself adapted from the work of Cervantes. Got that? Of course, none of that really matters as long as the performance is enjoyable. And that it most certainly is.

The company does something rather ingenious with the play, which is to have William Shakespeare and John Fletcher appear as characters. So the performance is both the play itself, and a depiction of how it was possibly written, which is brilliant considering the play’s questionable origins. It also makes for some great comedy. And speaking of adaptations, the music playing as the crowd arrives is a collection of instrumental adaptations of pop songs from the 1980s done with one foot in the 1600s, songs like “Take On Me” and “Come On Eileen,” a playful touch to help establish the tone even before the performance begins. Then, as the performance begins, two actors stand upon the stage facing the audience, delivering lines out to them. After a moment, they stop and comment on the very lines they’d just been speaking, and we learn that the two are William Shakespeare (Ryon Thomas) and John Fletcher (Megan Ruble). Fletcher looks to Shakespeare as a mentor and an inspiration. Shakespeare responds, ”You’re feeling inspired by the garbage you just read?” He himself is not inspired, but doing this play in order to fulfill a contractual obligation before retiring. Fletcher, on the other hand, is young and eager to contribute to a changing theatre. Fletcher also questions the believability of a woman disguising herself as a boy, something that gets a big laugh, as Fletcher himself is played by a woman (and that bit will see another layer added to it before long). It is after that that Roderick (Will Mueller) delivers the first lines from Act I of Double Falsehood. And so we in the audience see it as a work in progress.

Shakespeare and Fletcher remain on stage, seated upstage right, ready to step in if anything goes awry or if a scene needs tweaking. DeMarcus Brooks is delightful as Duke Angelo in this first scene, helping to set a bright tone. Modern references are introduced early in the performance, with a boom box brought on, and we hear “Every Breath You Take,” the Police’s famous song about stalking, fitting for a scene in which Henriquez (Roberto Williams) tries to woo Violante (Savannah Moffat), a woman whom he is soon to violate. There are also metatheatrical references to the company itself, with Shakespeare telling Fletcher that of course this is a comedy, it is running in repertory with Henry IV (the other play Shakespeare By The Sea is performing this season), and later someone says to Fletcher, “It’s Shakespeare By The Sea, not Fletcher By The Sea.” And there is a running gag about Shakespeare coining many words and phrases, something that was also present in the British series Upstart Crow. All of this works to create a sort of flexible time, with the present becoming a mixture of the modern and the historical, placing the audience in both simultaneously, which gives the performance a certain exciting quality. It also frees the actors up to make some bold choices without the normal fear of going over the top.

Shakespeare and Fletcher do stop the action from time to time, as when they try to figure out what happened with Henriquez and Violante. It is Fletcher who wants to try new strategies, to take risks, and suggests that Violante is defiled by Henriquez. It is in that scene that a more serious reference to John Fletcher’s gender and experience is introduced. There are also funny references to Titus Andronicus in this scene. Henriquez’s speech about having enjoyed Violante is delivered to the audience, rather than to Lopez, who is cut from this production. Roberto Williams is excellent in this scene as he navigates the great changes within the speech, from regretting his action to justifying it. And as he directly addresses the audience, he attempts to gain our sympathy with this speech, pleading his case to us as well as to himself. It is fascinating and a bit unnerving at times. Violante then gets a chance to speak directly to us as well. “What will’t avail me/To say I was not willing.” She is compelling here, and in all of her scenes, Savannah Moffat delivering one of the production’s absolute best performances. When Geraldo (Chris Fine) enters, she instinctively recoils from him, which feels exactly right.

Leonora (Amanda Godoy) is having troubles of her own, as her father, Don Bernardo (Caleb Fietsam), has chosen a match for her with Henriquez, though it is Julio that she loves. Leonora reminds Henriquez of his friendship to Julio in an effort to get him to back off. Interestingly, there is a moment when Don Bernardo is so harsh to Leonora that even Henriquez leaps to her defense. It’s a nice moment which keeps Henriquez from being solely a villain. And if all this seems much too serious for a comedy, Shakespeare steps in with a promise of some “good old-fashioned comedy.” Enter Camillo (Alec Yamartino) with his cane, which he soon means to use as a weapon. He is particularly funny in the way he delivers the word “neighbor,” with a bitterness and disdain. The word, perhaps more than his cane, becomes his weapon. But to Shakespeare’s dismay, Fletcher contributes more and more to this play, which works well with what some scholars have believed, that Cardenio is more Fletcher’s work than Shakespeare’s. Shakespeare and Fletcher argue with the way in which a particular scene should play out, the characters having to do the scene multiple times as a result. With no resolution, Shakespeare walks off, leaving Fletcher with all the characters on stage, those characters seeking some direction, with shades of Pirandello.

The solution that Fletcher comes up with is to shift the play to a more pastoral setting, where Violante is now disguised as a shepherd boy. We’ve seen women disguised as boys before in Shakespeare’s work, and we’ve heard Fletcher say that it’s not believable. What’s unusual here is that Violante’s disguise doesn’t work, just as Fletcher predicted. First Julio (Mario Silva) and then the Master of the Flocks (Chris Fine) see through her disguise and identify her as female. And just as it seems Violante might be attacked again, Roderick enters. What’s interesting here is that as before when things were threatening to become too serious, we get a particularly funny scene, though while last time it was Shakespeare who ushered in the comedy, this time it is Fletcher. And Fletcher watches the scene with as much enjoyment as does the audience. The entire cast is strong, but Megan Ruble delivers one of the evening’s best performances. Fletcher still has trouble finding the play’s conclusion, and Shakespeare re-enters to help, though telling Fletcher, “This play is all yours.” Is it? Perhaps those missing manuscripts will turn up one of these days, and we’ll have an answer. But for now, we can enjoy this incredibly delightful and clever adaptation.

This production of Cardenio; Or Double Falsehood is directed by Jonathan Fisher, and continues through August 2nd. There is one fifteen-minute intermission. Visit the Shakespeare By The Sea website for the complete schedule.