Winds blew threatening of rain, trees rustled in the fading light, squirrels scampered from branch to branch and, occasionally, there was a distinctly human howl of one type or another off in the distance—the perfect setting for the 32nd rendition of Toronto’s beloved outdoor summer theatre tradition Shakespeare in High Park.
This summer, Canadian Stage is once again offering up both a comedy and tragedy from the William Shakespeare canon on alternating nights. The tragedy is the bloody, gore fest Titus Andronicus while the comedy, which opened last night, is the pastoral As You Like It.
Directed by Nigel Shawn Williams of the Factory Theatre, As You Like It is about as hippie a play as you could possibly get from Shakespeare. The city is full of corruption and deceit, while the surrounding countryside and woods allow people to appreciate the most important things in life: peace, love and understanding. You dig?
Like many of Shakespeare’s comedies, As You Like It features two people falling in love and ends in a wedding. In this particular play, Duke Senior is in exile living in the woods while his daughter Rosalind is left behind in the city with her friend and cousin Celia. While there, Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, they separate and both flee the city making their way to the woods for one reason or another. This sets the stage for some shenanigans involving multiple couples and eventually a massive wedding.
This production is very musical, fast-paced and entertaining. Clocking in at just 90 minutes (no intermission), the play begins and ends with some folkie ditties played on acoustic guitars with some very capable musicians and actors. There are plenty of humorous moments and some liberties taken that prove worthwhile, but what makes this production work so well is the acting of Amy Rutherford as Rosalind as well as a number of key smaller roles that provide fine comedic relief.
Rutherford, who has been nominated for three Dora Awards, is absolutely wonderful as Rosalind coaxing every ounce of comedy and humanity from Shakespeare’s words. She commands attention every time she is on the stage. She even provides a stirring epilogue. Her supporting cast is also very good, but such a compelling Rosalind allows the production to attain a very high level.
Other standouts of note include the work of Jan Alexandra Smith in the smaller but meaningful role of Jaques, confidante of Duke Senior and the character that drops that “All the world’s a stage” line. Her wonderfully bitter and pessimistic nature provide a dose of reality to the otherwise all-to-lovely happenings on stage where everything seems to work out in the end. And hats off to Gwenlyn Cumyn in multiple roles as Phebe, Dennise and Lady Jody. Her acting is fine, but her singing is angelic. An otherwise uninteresting scene following a deer hunt is utterly transformed into a magical experience by her voice alone piercing the silence of High Park. Might have been the highlight of the night if it was allowed to breathe a bit more. In the end, the musical side of things was a bit heavy-handed with the insertion of too many little songs that sounded all too similar. But in this instance, it is perfect.
As You Like It is an entertaining play perfect for Shakespeare in High Park. There are plenty of funny lines about relationships that manage to be relevant, it moves along at a good pace and it is quite entertaining. Go, have your fun.
