A Midsummer's Romp: HID's AS YOU LIKE IT

 As You Like It is a strange show...and I love it.

On the one hand, it begins with a convoluted subplot about usurpation, betrayal, primogeniture, and an inexplicable wrestling match.  At which point, Shakespeare proceeds to throw all that to the wind and spend the remaining four acts wandering through the forest with a superabundance of clowns, random priests, a few extra dukes and some songsters, the requisite cross-dressings, a whole bunch of awful poetry and love.  Structurally, it's a mess of a play.

But on the other hand, As You Like It gives us one of Shakespeare's best heroines, Rosalind, with a wit quick enough to challenge the Melancholy Dane to a word-off, as well the timeless speech by the melancholy Jaques declaring that "All the world's a stage," and a veritable carte blanche to turn the mess into a musical.

As You Like It invites serious dramaturgical meddling, which can either perform disastrously or, as in the case of Hamlet Isn't Dead's (HID) all-female summer production, can illuminate Shakespeare's themes of this great pageant of life.

With a script cut by stage director and Artistic Director, David Andrew Laws, this As You Like It seamlessly trims Shakespeare's fat, interweaving his disparate sylvan scenes, combining or excising extraneous characters, and letting "All the world's a stage" guide us like Henry V's Prologue through the play.

The diverse cast is uniformly excellent, and it's a relief to see women+ of every ethnicity and body shape shine in comic turns and heartfelt moments.  Tay Bass, last seen as Helena in Joe Raik's All One Forest, gives a delightful Rosalind, fully grounded and fully elated, with a physical fluidity and buoyance.  Rachel Caplan as Orlando more than matches her - in fact, this may have been one of my favorite Orlandos I've seen.  Somehow capturing the spirit of "Just this guy, y'know?" with ease and confident sexuality. 

Caroline Aimetti as Celia leans into the eye-rolling and sisterly mockery, capable of throwing herself into love with the reformed Oliver, played by Briana Sakamoto, who manages to make a transition from uptight jealous brother to giddy lover with conviction.

I could watch Kelly Blaze as Jaques for hours.  She owns the spotlight without stealing it.  Her command and intelligence are on fierce display, and it's only a shame any of her lines were cut for time.  Lauren Wainwright as Duke Senior and Anna Stacy as Amiens serve more as benevolent musicians accompanying this midsummer night's romp than characters in their own right - a missed opportunity, perhaps, as both women are charming and strong.  And yet, I wouldn't want to lose a moment of their musical ability, including some excellent violin counterpoints from Wainwright.

Ashil Lee, also late from All One Forest (and upcoming in TTF's The Fall of Lady M) continues to impress.  Whether playing Puck in All One Forest or, here, the country bumpkin and hopeless romantic, Silvius, her incredible ability to fully inhabit characters - evident from her accent choices to her impressive physicality - is a masterwork in action.  Lily Waldron matches her as Phebe, making some smart lingual choices to make well-worn speeches seem new again.

Perhaps the absolute highlight of the show, however, are our villains.  HID always excels in their clown characters, and Maya Martin-Udry and Jenny Grober as the evil Duke Frederick and the Kronk-lite Charles the Wrestler are standouts.  Without giving their schtick away, everything you've ever loved best about your favorite Disney over-the-top villain and sidekick, you will love about this dynamic duo.

And last, but certainly faaaar from least, Laurel Andersen trades in her wry Rosalind from All One Forest to take on the heart-on-his-sleeve Adam, Orlando's faithful retainer.  This role is so easily ignored, since the character slips off into that eternal slumber half-way through the play, but Andersen is the master of making you care.  And Laws' direction for Adam's slow journey across that undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns is tender, sweet, aching and painful.

If all of this isn't enough to tempt you to flood HID's final weekend of performance, there's the fantabulous music - probably HID's best to date - composed by Singer Joy and performed by the whole cast.  And if that's not enough, come just for the mossy grass floor and the fairy lighted ceiling.

I've been critical of HID's giddy productions in the face of some of Shakespeare's darker moments.  But this production gave a glimmer that as HID is growing with Shakespeare's mature canon, their own style is maturing without losing any of their inherent effervescence.  If I had one piece of advice to give my friends over at Hamlet Isn't Dead is that they can trust those quiet, haunting moments to stand on their own - as much as they trust their wild sense of joy.

But for this reviewer who loves As You Like It so much, she generally hates productions of the same...I can confidently say that this is one As You Like It that you will LOVE.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As You Like It plays at El Barrio Art Space, 215 East 99th Street, NYC, through Saturday, July 28, 2018.

Tickets through Eventbrite.

Lily Waldron as Phebe and Caroline Aimetti as Celia in As You Like It.

Rachel Caplan as Orlando and Tay Bass as Rosalind in As You Like It.