By Whitney Sorensen
Timpanogos Valley Theatre in Heber stages their version of an original-practice Shakespeare production in As You Like It. This bard rom-com is not as frequently staged as A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Much Ado About Nothing, but it still features plot devices that are common in Shakespeare’s funnier plays: cross-dressing, traipsing out to the forest, and confusion about who is who.
The plot of As You Like It feels like a happier version of Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers, Rosalind (Emma Briggs) and Orlando (Nate Jenson), meet in Act One and fall in love at first sight. They both have family problems—she with her uncle Duke Frederick (Cevin Carr) who banishes her from the kingdom, he with his older brother, Oliver (David Lidell Thorpe), who tried to have Orlando killed in a wrestling match. These family troubles lead both lovers out to the forest of Arden, where everything gets tangled up until order is restored in the final scene. For those who have trouble following Shakespeare, TVT has wisely put a plot synopsis in the program to help you keep up.
TVT has cast this production with several actors who have a tongue for Shakespeare. Notable performances are given by:
- Thorpe, who uses physical comedy and careful diction in the opening scenes to help the audience become attuned to Shakespeare’s language;
- Brenna Wall as Celia, Rosalind’s traveling companion, who plays the perfect rom-com best friend;
- Rick Kellogg as Duke Senior, Rosalind’s father who has also been banished to Arden by his brother and acts at all times like a cross between the animated Disney Friar Tuck and either Bill or Ted on an excellent adventure;
- Sean Tasker as Charles the wrestler, who pulls the audience into the play with his over-the-top physical comedy in Act One;
- and Jessica Wall as Jacques, who delivers a delightful performance of the famous “All the World’s a Stage” speech.
A few actors struggled with line memorization on opening night, which hindered the pace of the story a bit, but considering they used only nine rehearsals to stage this, it’s understandable if their iambic pentameter isn’t quite perfect. There were also times when the lines were hard to understand because the actors were using accents and I struggled to follow Shakespearian poetry delivered as if by a stereotyped Frenchman.
The actor with by far the most to say is Briggs as Rosalind, and I enjoyed seeing a Shakespeare show with a woman at the center orchestrating all the action. Briggs takes obvious care to help the audience maintain interest during her many long speeches, and her delivery has plenty of variety. However, I do wish at times the pace of the dialog had been more paramount than pantomiming the meaning of every line, mainly because I think the faster you deliver rom-com banter, the more laughs it can elicit.
A final notable element of this production is the integration of music. The actors sing and dance on stage several times, and TVT has found nice melodies for the sung poems in Shakespeare that are always my least favorite part of his written texts. The standout talent is Marlis Tasker, who strums the guitar and takes the lead on many of the best numbers.
I recommend TVT’s As You Like It to anyone who still hasn’t crossed this show off their Shakespeare bucket list. If you’re a Shakespeare fan, you owe it to yourself to see “All the world’s a stage” said in context on a stage. The show runs about two hours, and the concessions are just $1 each, so it’s a great show to see with your student of junior-high-school age or older, your date for the evening, or yourself.
Timpanogos Valley Theatre presents As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Timpanogos Valley Theatre, 90 N 100 W, Heber City, UT 84032
August 17-25 7:00 PM, Matinee Aug 25 3:00 PM
Tickets: $8-17
Contact: 435-654-2125
Timpanogos Valley Theatre on Facebook
TVT’s As You Like It Facebook event
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