From page 11 of the Friday, March 31, 1989 issue of the Rice Thresher:
BY BILL TUCKER
"All the world's a stage," writes Shakespeare in As You Like It, and the current production of this play marks the twentieth year that the Baker Commons has been transformed into a stage. Although Monday night's performance of As You Like It was marred by some first-night jitters, it was nevertheless an enjoyable production.
The story contains many typical elements of Shakespeare's comedies, including disguises and misrepresentations, intense family relationships, and carefully orchestrated confusion resulting in a happy ending for nearly everyone. The play can be, and usually is, performed as "a rural romp," as Alan David, the director, put it in the program. However, he then goes on to state "I've always suspected that it is a much more dangerous play, one that challenges notions of gender, that asks questions about the boundaries of our 'male' and 'female' natures." David's from the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is therefore apparently allowed to be this heavy and pretentious.
Unfortunately, heaviness and pretention characterized his direction of the play, particularly in the first act. The players seemed to be doing their best to remove all comedy and instead "pry... open... recently-held myths." This might, however, have been just nervousness. Once the actors had loosened up a bit, the sheer humor and delight of the play began to shine through, and the rapport between actors and audience, which is essential to a successful comedy, established itself.
Lisa May and Alec Graham, as the couple around whom the action centers, were appropriately fresh and appealing, as a fairy-tale couple should be. However, May had the misfortune to be onstage nearly the entire time with Bernadette Gillece, who played Celia, her cousin, and whose superb comic talent stole nearly every scene she was in. Gillece's performance alone is worth seeing this play for.
Don Russell, who played Jacques (Shakespeare's play on this name, which was pronounced "jakes," has been lost -- the word was a euphemism for "toilet"), did a fine job despite a couple of flubs. In addition, he did his usual professional work on the lighting, and designed the spare, airy set perfectly.
Also notable was Mark Anderson as a nicely haughty Duke Frederick, who was brilliantly costumed (by Shannon Halwes) as though he had stepped from the pages of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Stu Derby, playing the rather slow shepherd Corin, has one of the best sight gags in the show, and Sarah Keller was appropriately ditzy as the inconstant Audrey.
All in all, the production was a well-done continuation of this great Baker tradition. This first performance augurs well for those at the end of this week, so don't miss it.
Last modified June 11, 1996 by Proteus Internet Information. Send corrections or comments. And if you don't like it, well you can just go get yourself a Shakespearean insult.