Saturday, May 1, 2010

Locals Know - As You Like It


In our last entry I referred to a statement made by Bruce Dow in which he said that if you see "As You Like It" you will get what Des McAnuff is all about. Well I think we got it, but what a wild and wonderful mind this man has. This years production of "As You Like It" has so many wonderful things going for it I will only be able to scratch the surface. First and foremost the cast is amazing.
Throw together Brent Carver, Ben Carlson, and Paul Nolan, fold in the delicious Andrea Runge and Cara Ricketts, and finally add a dash of Randy Hughson and Lucy Peacock and you cant help but come out with a winner. Even though this production is set in the 1920's McAnuff has successfully made Shakespeare contemporary. The set is inspired by the artistic works of Dali, Magritte and Glen Brown so if you are at all familiar with their work it will make even more sense. One note of caution is that the first act starts off a little slow, but this is due to the script itself. This play takes a while to introduce all of it's players and the story seems to take a while before it really gets going.
I don't want to give too much away on this one, but I think Mr. McAnuff succeeded with this one.
We enjoyed this play and think it will foster plenty of breakfast conversations over the course of the season.

Check out this Bravo clip from the production

1 comment:

  1. I have just read your posting with great interest. To be truthful, I was not a fan of Des, until I went to see As You Like It, but I have to say, after seeing this production, I have been won over. I think this production is second only to Brian Bedford's Midsummer Night's Dream a few years ago. It is certainly a magical three hours in the theatre.

    Now I have found your blog, I look forward to reading your reviews on the other productions this season.

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