Valley Shakespeare Festival's As You Like It

The Cast of As You Like It

Yesterday, May 2nd, I took my friend (and recent Youth Board member) Elena Kemper to see a free preview performance of a production of As You Like It. This production was put on by the talented actors of the Valley Shakespeare Festival, a newer non-profit who are dedicated to enhancing and presenting some of Shakespeare's greatest master pieces. Some recent productions included Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet (which I had the opportunity to be a part of).

To summarize the play, it is the classic love story of a boy who meets a girl who gets banished and she and her cousin get thrown into the woods. With disguises, love, and laughter, love stories get intertwined and (hopefully) become sorted out in the end.
Did that sound confusing at all?
If so, then you're not alone. Before I took a Shakespeare class in school, I had no clue how to read a Shakespeare play. I loved watching them, but I never understood the text. Now I do. One of the plays we studied was As You Like It. Shortly, it became one of my favorites.

What the Valley Shakespeare Festival does is that they take a condensed version of the play and perform it with a rather low budget (the plays are only about an hour long), and still continue to make these productions free. They allow multiple characters to be performed by the same actor (in Romeo and Juliet, I was Benvolio/ Nurse/ Page).

Since they don't have the Victorian Costumes or the set you might expect (but still keeping the language of the original), you might ask yourself: Did it take away from the production itself? Was the play even more confusing than it was? I'll tell you: it didn't. I was able to see the play through a new light. I often ask myself how we can "update" one of his plays in order to engage a modern audience. I stopped asking my question, because the answer was simple. Shakespeare defined what it is to be human. He wrote about our imperfections and our mistakes, our emotions and how we over exaggerate our lives. As long as you have convincing actors, the story goes a long way.

Did I like the performance? How couldn't I? With clear movements, contemporary staging and costumes, interaction with the audience, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face even if I tried! Unfortunately, their only public performance (so far) was this Saturday. However, those of you that attend a Shelton school (I believe they stated that they are going to the 4th grade classes) will be able to see this wonderful show!

The cast is as follows:
Sarah Levine as Celia
Jess Breda as Rosalind
Stephen Humes as Orlando
Kristen Kingsley as Adam/Phoebe
David J Wiena as Charles/Silvus
Adam Kezel as Oliver/Touchstone 
Matt Catalano as Duke Frederick, Duke Senior and Audrey
Tom Simonetti as Le Beau/ Jaques

They have an upcoming summer production as well. This production is... A Midsummer Night's Dream. Follow them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyShakespeareFestival?fref=ts
-Nathan Clift
President of the NPT Youth Board