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Regional Reviews: New Jersey Ambitious As You Like It Also see Bob's reviews of Say Goodnight, Gracie and One of Your Biggest Fans
This portion of the production is startling and, at first blush, quite intriguing. One wonders how director Michael Sexton will follow up on this throughout the comically romantic gambol in the Forest of Arden that will comprise much of the balance of the play. Dismayingly, Sexton and his company just abandon all traces of the stark melodramatics that we have just seen. Maybe, and I'm just taking a wild guess here, we are to conclude that getting away from the hothouse Palace and living in the Forest of Arden (back to nature, Luddite living and all that jazz) has transformed their souls. However, for me, the abrupt abandonment of the style employed pre-Arden makes its presence little more than a stunt. p>The balance of the pre-intermission portion of this production derives entirely from act two of Shakespeare's text wherein we meet the melancholy Jacques and Amiens, who are Lords attending Duke Senior; Orlando, Rosalind and Celia, disguised as a boy and a shepherdess; and the clown Touchstone who has accompanied them from the Palace interacting and meeting the simple shepherd Silvius who is benighted by unrequited love for the shepherdess Phebe; and Orlando encounters Duke Senior and his attendants. Among the wintry trees which provide the felicitous setting is a piano. The mood is pastoral, and there long stretches of sleepy, very similar sounding (at least on first hearing) songs. Made the more so in contrast to the clanging that has preceded it, the stultifying languidness here is enervating.After the intermission, director Michael Sexton charters a new course which, lo and behold, is lively and interesting, and, without any help from what has come before, provides delightful, intelligent entertainment. Sexton has selected in his abridgement of the text and direction to shine the spotlight on Rosalind to a greater extent than I have ever experienced in any production of this play. And Rosalind comports herself physically and with the rhythms of her speech with the defiant urban "attitude" that has been adapted by some African Americans there. Thanks to the sensational performance of Miriam A. Hyman, this novel approach (albeit that it may be simply a novelty) works beautifully. For Hyman has the ability to delightfully amuse us with her hip, twentieth century style while simultaneously, and seemingly effortlessly, conveying the smooth-flowing and witty words of Shakespeare with the grace, clarity and beauty of the superior Shakespearian actress that she so clearly is. Michael Sexton also must be credited with the clear and rib-tickling lucidity with which some of Shakespeare's most delightful lines are conveyed. These readings shift into high gear after the intermission when Rosalind discovers the love notes to her which Orlando has posted on trees throughout the forest. Who can resist this simile employed by a shepherd as part of his response to Touchstone's inquiry as to whether he has "philosophy in him": "I know ... that he that wants money, means and content is without three good friends." Jacob Fishel (Orlando) is as charming and delightful as the Orlando whom we meet encounter in the forest as he is powerful and compelling as that other Orlando seen in the early scenes; Brendan Titley is a most amusing Touchstone; Philip Goodwin doubles in the roles of Duke Frederick and his brother Duke Senior efficiently; J.D. Webster, who essays three roles, is most memorably amusing as the comically lovesick Silvius; and Sara Topham is a charming Celia. There is nary a weak link in the entire company in which eleven actors play twenty roles with several of the female actors playing both a female and a male role. Myra Lucretia Taylor's comic inventiveness enables her to stand out in smaller dual roles. As Adam, the loyal servant in the house of Oliver and Orlando, Taylor captures in large, the honest and true, outgoing and honest, rambunctious elderly family retainer who has no inhibition on expressing his honest observations. In the forest, Taylor is the boisterous, dull-witted goatherd Audrey. Here, Taylor is an hilarious embodiment of the dull witted, over-sexed farm girl dating back from Al Capp and forward from "Hee-Haw." Brett J. Banakis has designed a stylish setting which is attractive and illumines his director's approach. I was particularly taken by the after-intermission transformation of the Forest of Arden from winter to spring by the placement of banners with leafy tree branches in front of each of the trees on stage, and replacing white floor mats with green ones. Floral and painterly patterned mats in a riot of colors replace these for the joyful conclusion. Tilly Grimes has designed formal dress that would be appropriate for mid to late 19th century America for the pre-forest scenes at the Palace (although Orlando wears a rutty hooded sweater). The rural get-ups which thereafter dominate are delightfully fanciful and appear to draw on a wide variety of sources. Touchstone's costumes and make-up are delightfully entertaining (vaudeville and modern circus may be Grimes' touchstones—ouch!). If daring and ambition were all, this production of As You Like It, one of Shakespeare's most popular and delightful comedies, would march to the head of its class. However, although directed with showy re-interpretations which, for the greater part, startle and/or intrigue, it fails to sustain a coherent vision. Despite this, Two River's As You Like It provides a thought-provoking, largely entertaining, roller coaster ride that is well worth your time and attention. Furthermore, it would be a shame to miss the stellar performance of Miriam A. Hyman. As You Like It continues performances (Evenings: Wednesday 7 pm/ Thursday-Saturday 8 pm/ Matinees: Wednesday 1 pm/ Thursday 10 am/ Saturday - Sunday 3 pm) through February 16, 2014 at the Two River Theatre Company, Marion Huber Theatre, 21 Bridge Ave., Red Bank 07701; Box Office: 732-345-1400 / online: www.trtc.org. As You Like It by William Shakespeare; directed by Michael Sexton Cast At Court In The Forest of Arden
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