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Beate Hein Bennett
“It was a Lover and his Lass…” As You Like It
If you are looking for a delightful way of spending an evening
with Shakespeare’s delicious comedy of confusions, come and
see The Drilling Company’s production of “As You Like
It” in-- yes, a parking lot. Hamilton Clancy, the founding
director of The Drilling Company, now in its 31st year, has once
again gathered a superb cast to regale the audience to an unpretentious
fresh presentation of Shakespeare’s luminous comedy. His direction
is full of invention with the simplest production means—materially
“poor” but theatrically rich, in the best sense. Set
in a corner of a NYC public school parking lot, the playing area
is defined by a square green cloth. After all, most of “As
You Like It” takes place in the Forest of Arden. The audience
sits around three sides of the green cloth, close to the action.
The actors enter between the three audience sections and from upstage.
A picnic table set towards the back of the square cloth adds various
levels for actions. A large, stopped clock dial hangs demonstratively
center stage, a tangible reminder to Touchstone’s later verse
about the passage of Time: While the audience settles in with food or a bottle of wine, and some greet friends-- the atmosphere is congenial and relaxed-- the actors prepare themselves nearby in a couple of tents. Of course, the city is ever present as well: on Rivington Street cars, motorcycles, ambulances, fire trucks rumble by, pedestrians on the sidewalk stop to see what is happening inside the wire fence of the parking lot. City life continues beyond the Forest of Arden where we will follow a tale of two mingled plots that juxtapose the classic Elizabethan opposites: romantic love versus Realpolitik, court versus country, nature versus artifice, honesty versus deceit, melancholy versus joy. The characters in the comedy fall into those opposite conditions, and their various interactions shape the intricate double plot. The present ensemble of actors includes many veterans of previous Shakespeare in the Parking Lot productions. Their experience of playing in such an environment has made them secure in dealing with unpredictable noises coming from the street. Their adaptive spontaneity and collaborative spirit show in their interactions as characters and as actors. Rosalind, played by Lia Bonfilio, is at the center of the comedy. She becomes the object of her uncle Duke Frederick’s unfounded wrath and his order of her exile, although he had adopted her as playmate for his daughter Celia after he had usurped the throne from his older brother whom he banished to live in the wilderness. Rosalind’s younger cousin Celia is played by Thammie Lane Quach with the cocky teenage charm of the privileged child. However, Celia is loyal to her beloved cousin Rosalind and decides to escape with her-- but where to and how? Celia determines “to find her uncle,” the banished Duke Senior, Rosalind’s father, in the Forest of Arden. To be safe in the wilderness from thieves and wild-life, they devise the scheme of disguise: Rosalind will disguise herself as a young man, Ganymede, “armed with a curtle-axe upon my thigh”. Celia will be Ganymede’s sister Aliena “in poor and mean attire.” Ms. Bonfilio plays Rosalind as a wise and self-possessed elegant lady; as Ganymede, she plays up the ‘manspreading’ ‘mansplaining’ would-be man, mustachio included, hiding the love-torn Rosalind behind her bravura mask. Chris Martel is cast as both Dukes: he plays the usurper Duke Frederick as a sort of paranoid craven maniac. In the Forest of Arden, Martel plays the banished Duke Senior with the gentility of a generous soul. Part of Duke Senior’s entourage in the Forest is Jacques, the melancholy fool, played by David Marantz with the salty wit of one who claims to abjure the company of men but never hesitates to spar with anybody who responds and, carrying his guitar on his back, he is always ready to sing. He is a more jovial melancholic Jacques with a brighter tone compared to others I have seen. As Fools go, Andy Rowell is a spectacularly nimble Touchstone, the “motley” court fool whose cruel wit lashes with a wicked charm and spares no part of society. Mr. Rowell’s costume of a “motley” suit, a fitted modern suit jacket with matching shorts in broadly striped primary colors, and his spiked-up hair crown is one of the best designed Fool costumes I have seen. (Last year, Mr. Rowell charmed as Puck in “Midsummer Night’s Dream”.) Another brothers-at-loggerheads juxtaposition are the two sons of Sir Rowland de Boys: Oliver, the elder brother, played by Emmanuel Elpenord, has viciously deprived his younger brother, Orlando of the suitable education that befits a nobleman. Orlando, played with an ingenuous charm by Patrick Hart, must survive by his physical strength and ingenuity. In the first encounter between both actors, they clearly delineate their contrasting personalities: Oliver/Elpenord is harsh and arrogant, Orlando/Hart is firm in argument, sure of his value, as he accuses his brother of having prevented his proper education. An early scene in the comedy is the wrestling match arranged at the court of Duke Frederick between Orlando and the Duke’s champion wrestler Charles, played by Raphael del Rio. Oliver encourages this match with evil intent. Orlando, winning the wrestling match to everyone’s surprise, is also banished. However, the love interest between Rosalind and Orlando begins to blossom at this match. As Orlando prepares to escape the court, Sir Rowland’s trusty old servant Adam, played with sincere warmth and dignity by Robert Arcaro, insists on going with him. Where to? Of course, the Forest of Arden. The Forest is inhabited by the simple country folk who present the social stratum in contrast to the vain and vicious courtiers. Their behavior and language are plain and straight forward. However, with shepherd Corin Shakespeare also presents very clearly the subsistence economy imposed by the feudal system; Corin articulates in clear simple language the source of their poverty, namely the greed of the ruling class. At the performance I saw, Hamilton Clancy played Corin with sly humor. Two mature actors, instead of young actors, cast as Silvius and Phoebe created an interesting contrast to the young couple of lovers. Dan Teachout as love-sick Silvius and Lizabeth Allen as his resistant Phoebe are a marvelous duo. Carly Grissom is a true chameleon actor as she transforms from the fay courtier LeBeau to Audrey, a zaftig chewing gum chewing country wench seducing Touchstone in the Forest. Last not least, a special kudo goes to the musician/actor Adama Joy Sall in the character of Amiens who is part of the banished Duke’s entourage. Ms. Sall’s bio mentions her as a “griotte”, a female “griot”, the African equivalent of a bard who tells the stories of people often through music. Ms. Sall and Mr. Marantz have composed several of the songs in the show in addition to the original songs by Natalie Smith and Andrew Gombas. “If music be the food of love, play on…” (Shakespeare) Hamilton Clancy’s unique idea of presenting Shakespeare plays
in a parking lot goes back decades. Different parking lots and Bryant
Park have hosted The Drilling Company. Joseph Papp’s original
idea of free Shakespeare productions started more than fifty years
ago with a mobile stage and a truck in a small park on the Lower
Eastside near the FDR. “Shakespeare in the Park”, as
it is now known, developed over the past fifty plus years in Central
Park at the open air Delacorte Theatre, where audiences now watch
the spectacles in a recently renovated large amphitheater with an
even larger stage than the original one. Both companies, The Public
Theatre and The Drilling Company, offer Shakespeare for free, but
access, production style, and ambience differ greatly. Go and see
for yourself! |
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