Shakespeare in the Best of All Possible Worlds


Reviewed 4/17/04

Shakespeare's plays travel well. Placed in various contexts and countries throughout history, the texts of the Bard generally weather most any extremes. Sometimes, however, one of his texts is placed into a specific historical moment that feels like it should have been written during that time. So it is with Jared Sakren's stroke of genius of placing Southwest Shakespeare Company's version of the contemplative comedy As You Like It in the mid-18 th century Age of Enlightenment. This era, obsessed as it was with natural rights versus granted rights, science versus religion, and the role of philosophy in everyday life, while balanced with the fashionable androgyny of men, makes this journey from the stifling Court of usurping Duke Frederick to the saucy Forest of Arden fit perfectly. When you add the repertory company of fine actors that Sakren has collected, this is one production of As You Like It that people who appreciate the classics will love.

It is with this production that I finally recognize what it is about Sakren's work with Shakespeare that I really appreciate: when Sakren is at the helm, the language is completely accessible, and it is because of the careful table work that he (and coach David Vining) does in combination with the physicalization he draws from his cast. Many complain that listening to Shakespeare is like watching a foreign language play, yet the carefulness that is taken with enunciation and the near miming of the action of the words makes it easy to understand the movement of the play. Richard Trujillo's broad presentation of the fool Touchstone is made deliberate with each of his precise gestures during his hilarious exchanges and monologues. When words occur that are not familiar, they are made recognizable in this way.

The trappings of the script are well worn: a banished court on the run, a woman hiding in men's clothing, the friction between courtiers and rustics. What sets apart this script from the others is Rosalind. She starts as a giggling girl with a crush on young Orlando who grows through her travels and then has the audacity to, in her altered state, advise the smitten Orlando (Kyle Sorrell) on how to best to woo her. Quetta Carpenter does justice to this exceptional woman. She starts sweetly without overdoing it, her cloaking as a man is not overplayed, but rather presented with assurance, and those all-important scenes where she instructs Orlando are quite enjoyable. Sorrell is in every way her equal, bringing across his plight and love impressively. Trujillo's Touchstone is full of bravado, nearly to a fault, but there's no one I'd rather see deliver the seven levels of a lie. Most enjoyable is Christian Miller's non-jaundiced take on the melancholic Lord Jaques. Ordinarily presented as a silver-tongued whiner, Miller and Sakren have instead spun him in a worldly way that moves his potential whining into realms of philosophic exploration of the ambiguities of life. This turns this flitting character into an intellectual gadfly to excellent effect. Andrea Morales' Celia is a strong creation, while kudos go to Michael Sherwin for his impressive portrayal of the elderly servant Old Adam, in which he found not only a way to believably age over two score years, but to find humor in his character. Almost the entire remainder of the ensemble, including Sandy Elias' Duke Senior and Traci McCormick's comely Audrey is in tune with this great presentation.

As usual, David Barker's fight choreography is acrobatic and well performed, while it must be noted that David Temby's sound design, in combination with some excellent music choices, adds quite a bit to the play. Patrick Walsh and Sakren's scenic design is simple but quite effective, and Dori Brown's lighting does a good job of differentiating the court and forest worlds. The only misstep in an otherwise excellent production comes with the odd choice of the visuals for the finale, when Sakren has brought in what he calls a "Cirque de Soliel" look that is jarring in comparison to the play that has preceded it.