Summer love, there’s nothing like it, right? And Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” has all kinds of it. Fickle love. Star-crossed love. Family love, that turns so easily to hatred with the depths being measure for measure. Wait, that’s a different play…
Shakespeare Theatre’s Outdoor Stage is on the lovely campus of St. Elizabeth’s University. It is a gem at the crown of the hill upon which it sits and you are surrounded by trees, you may bring a picnic and your own chair or blanket and there is no better way to introduce the streaming generation to the joys of live theatre. Whether your co-hort is in their twenties or twice that or more, this is an outing where the fun is for everyone.
Characters like Charles, the Duke’s favorite wrestler, played by a genuine character – the superbly talented Jeffrey Bender, wend their way through the audience prior to the opening volley. There is no curtain here, as there is no proscenium, yet the entrances around and through the audience add to the charm. In addition to Bender, other company favorites include Clark Carmichael as Jaques, and newer favorites like Christian Frost as Oliver and Billie Wyatt as Rosalind, we add Jose Gamo as a most beauteous Orlando with Brianna Martinez as devoted cousin Celia, and Emily Chang, Matthew Radford Davies, Jennifer Joplin, and Jason Schlaman rounding out the cast. Everyone plays multiple roles and voice, costume and body language all help delineate the roles.
The evening was temperate when I attended and there is a charming way the cast has of dealing with technology undreamt of in their time whenever a jet takes off from the nearby Morristown airport. See for yourself, don’t take my word.
The story of brothers at war, lovers at cross purposes and the japery of confidence people rife in the woods all mean joyful merry making and ultimately, resolution. May all of our Summers end thus, as they do in the world of the Bard.
Visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org now for Outdoor Stage as well as “The Book of Will” opening later in July.