SHAKESPEARE’S

AS YOU LIKE IT

October 1st - November 15th, 2014

As the title implies, the intent of this play is to delight. We watch as a series of unexpecting men and women become cupid’s victim, falling head over heels in love at first sight. Shakespeare starts his tale in the court, or civilization, and shows nature at odds with itself; two sets of brothers irrationally usurping the other, and a father banishing his niece and daughter. We then shift to the Forest of Arden, or nature. Not only does this dual setting allow Shakespeare to indulge in the ever popular Elizabethan genre of the pastoral comedy (think “The Simple Life,” “Honey Boo Boo” or “Duck Dynasty”) in which we laugh at, empathize with, and learn from “rural folks”, it also allows Shakespeare to challenge our notions of the natural order and human behavior.