Boulder – The dark and stormy first days of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival have been not for the faint of heart or clothed of shorts. The 49th opening weekend was more like a hardy mountain camping trip than your more typical dry night inside a theater.
A tempest capsized “The Tempest” on Friday. The rain still fell by Sunday, yet with a blessedly lighter touch, which made the opening performance of the lighthearted romp “As You Like It” such a suitable reward for the adventurous few dozen still persisting against the uncommonly stubborn moisture.
The whispering trees of the naturally forested Mary Rippon Amphitheater made for an ideal Forest of Arden, the setting for Shakespeare’s dashing if derivative gender-bender about a girl who becomes a boy to tutor her intended in the ways of love.
At first glance, director Gavin Cameron-Webb’s conceit to focus this talky romantic comedy through the lens of Hollywood’s screwball-comedy film genre seemed a bit, well, screwy. In 1934-38, America was dust bowls and Depression. Who knew what a bonanza of staging possibilities this simple corollary would bring in the way of costumes, light and physical comedy? Sure, it’s a gimmick, but it’s one that works.
“As You Like It” is a class comedy that opens among wealth and opulence. Where might the rich and powerful have avoided the financial disaster of 1929? Try a Hollywood lot, where our Duke appears to be a mogul surrounded by stock characters from that cinematic era such as MGM showgirls, cowboys, swashbucklers, gangsters and comic heroes – with unmistakable nods to “Gone With the Wind,” horror films and biblical epics. The scene is a triumph for costumer Nicole M. Harrison Hoof.
A mirthful onstage wrestling match brings laborer Orlando (Lucas Rocco Alifano) into the sightline of wistful Rosalind (Sarah Dandridge), a scene aided by broad, filmlike touches such as a spotlight freezing the action on our future lovers’ gaze.
Because this Duke banishes just about everyone, we’re soon riding the rails with hobos and bums into the forest – here in the depressed American heartland. But Cameron-Webb maintains a feathery touch throughout and so draws a host of great comic performances.
Dandridge, who played the far more uptight cross-dresser Viola in last year’s “Twelfth Night,” is transformed, displaying a newfound relaxed comic confidence. She shares a playful chemistry with the affable Alifano as the suitor who can’t see past her bob cut. But it’s Elgin Kelley, so heartbreaking last year as Desdemona in “Othello,” who licks the audience like a lollipop in playing Rosalind’s giddy cousin and best pal, Celia. Longtime company jester Dennis Elkins draws cheers with a tossed-in aside from “Richard III.”
The biggest downer is Jaques (Matthew Penn), the gloomiest Gus to ever bog down any Bard comedy. If this walking rain cloud is meant to offer contrast, it’s only fitting this evening is all an homage to black and white (films). But Penn is giving us nothing to like.
The play ends as you might like, with not one but four weddings. Along the way it’s twangy singing hobos, fine dancing, two dastardly brothers and lots of sight gags (a deer carcass!), overalls and clever twists.
The best is an adorable singing telegram – until that moment is topped by a climactic, director ex-machina twist that services both script and concept brilliantly. It all caps a madcap and unexpectedly logical evening of fanciful, escapist fun.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“As You Like It” | *** 1/2 RATING
COMEDY|Colorado Shakespeare Festival|Directed by Gavin Cameron-Webb|Mary Rippon outdoor amphitheater at the University of Colorado-Boulder|THROUGH AUG. 19|8:30 p.m., dates vary|2 hours, 35 minutes|$10-$52|303-492-0554 or coloradoshakes.org
