There must be a million ways to stage Shakespeare’s plays, and many focus on making them more palatable for contemporary audiences. That’s certainly the case with Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery’s musical adaptation of “As You Like It,” which is enjoying a lively Midwest premiere at Writers Theatre.
Originally produced in 2022 in the outdoor Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park, the show intersperses Tony Award winner (for “Suffs”) Taub’s music and thoroughly modern lyrics with scenes and snippets from the play. It has been reworked for Writers’ indoor Nichols Theatre, but the theme of inclusivity remains as strong—and as relevant—as ever. With some character gender switches, the Forest of Arden becomes a haven for same-sex as well as straight couples and anyone else who is open to love.
Director Braden Abraham includes the audience in this concept. Co-scenic designers Sara Ryung Clement and Jacelyn Stewart’s set features a speakeasy for the royal court scenes that functions as a working bar during the pre-show, so that anyone can buy a drink, sit at one of the onstage tables and listen to music from the onstage band and actors in the production’s variety of folk-pop styles ranging from country to Broadway.
According to the program, Abraham and his designers set the play in Chicago during the heyday of gangsters, but Raquel Adorno’s eclectic costumes are a fantasy version of that era with a few other periods thrown in for good measure.
Usurping Duke Frederick (Scott Aiello), whose every entrance is punctuated by melodramatic music, wears double-breasted pinstripe suits, while his henchmen sport lavish fur coats. Rosalind (Phoebe Gonzalez) and her cousin Celia (Andrea San Miguel) are dressed in gorgeous sequinned and beaded flapper gowns with incongruous accents like too-long trains. Disguised as Ganymede in Arden, Rosalind dons a Chaplinesque outfit (sans cane) that makes her look cute as a button. Most Arden denizens resemble hobos or hippie refugees, except for Jaques (Matthew C. Yee), whose signature is a fringed cowboy jacket.
The show actually gets underway with Jaques, who is less of a curmudgeon than Shakepeare’s version, trying to finish a song he’s writing (and sings well). It’s Taub’s updated version of the character’s Seven Ages of Man speech that begins with “All the world’s a stage” but then continues here with “and everybody’s in the show, nobody’s a pro….and every day, we play our part acting out our heart … trying to tell a story we can feel, how do you make the magic real?”
This motif and Jaques’ work on the song are repeated throughout the evening, framing the idea of the Forest of Arden as a magical place conducive to transformation. By the end, even the mean characters — Duke Frederick and Orlando’s (Benjamin Mathew) older brother Oliver (Anand Nagraj) — have seen the error of their ways. And four pairs of lovers — Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, the clown Touchstone (Jackson Evans) and Andy (Jeff Rodriguez) and shepherds Silvia (Grace Steckler) and Phoebe (Dakota Hughes) — have sorted themselves out.
Everyone in the large cast is very good, and it would be remiss not to mention Chicago favorite Janet Ulrich Brooks, who stands out in a number of small roles. As the banished Duke Senior, Paul Oakley Stovall presides over all with dignity, serenity and a marvelous singing voice.
While hints of the Forest of Arden are visible above the court setting from the beginning, the transition when the bar and tables disappear opens up a sense of possibility as well as the physical space. Credit goes partly to co-lighting designers Eric Southern and Daphne Agosin.
The bandstand remains and sometimes becomes a prop for the actors, who’ll grab a mic to sing their hearts out. The musical director is Michael Mahler, and the choreography is by Erin Kilmurray.
I found some aspects of this “As You Like It” jarring, especially the first few switches from contemporary songs to Shakespearean dialogue, but once I got used to that, I came to appreciate subtler things like the way Rosalind gains confidence in her disguise and Celia becomes less sure of herself out of her father’s court. I also felt that everyone involved kept the spirit of the play as much as they changed the specifics.
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