Full Casting Announced For Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT

In part celebration of its 70th Anniversary Celebration and in order to attract a more diverse audience, The Gateway will produce a Shakespearean comedy for the first time in over 50 years - As You Like It, for four performances from Feb 21 - 23.

As You Like It is Shakespeare's classic comedy about maturing in love. When the usurping Duke Frederick banishes his niece Rosalind, she disguises herself as a man and escapes to the Forest of Arden to find her exiled father. Instead she meets the man of her dreams, but he doesn't see through her disguise. Rosalind soon finds herself tangled in a web of love triangles, filled with music, song, and mistaken identities. We also meet many quirky characretrs along the way including Jacques and his famous "All the World's a Stage" speech. The play eventually follows Rosalind as she tries to teach the man of her dreams the difference between wooing and wedding, and get him to see her for who she really is.

The central role of Rosalind will be played by Annabelle Rollison. Ms. Rollison has multiple credits from the American Shakespeare Center and the Barefoot Shakespeare Co including Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Paulina in The Winter's Tale and Dromio of Syracuse in Comedy of Errors. Orlando will be played by Samuel Adams whose credits include Hamlet in Hamlet at The Kraine Theater, Orlando in As You Like it at ACA with Shakespeare Theater Company and Lewis Carroll in Your Alice at Ophelia Group.

Rounding out the cast is Gracie Winchester as Celia, Michael Shenefelt as Oliver, Gregory Jon Phelps as Touchstone, Celia Madeoy as Jacques, Christopher Seiler as The Duke, Jessica Mortellaro as Phebe, Sara Hymes as Audrey and Daniel Deist as Silvius.

The Gateway's approach will be a modern one. New to Gateway, Director Vanessa Morosco states "While Shakespeare's plays first charmed and captivated audiences over 400 years ago, they are no less engaging and resonant today. Filled with lovers and fools, banishment and reunion, a wrestling match, clever world-play, an abundance of songs, and Shakespeare's most beloved heroine, there is something for everyone to like in As You Like It. Shakespeare designed his plays to show off the transformational skill of his players - delighting his audiences by having his actors play multiple roles in a production - and in this vibrant, small-cast production, we will be recovering this joy for our audience by celebrating the diverse and robust talents of players that play ... like a modern-day cast of Saturday Night Live."

Ms. Morosco is known for her socially activated, intersectional productions of classical theater. She has an expertise in Original Practices Shakespeare and holds a Master's Degree in Ethics from Yale University. Selected directing credits include: Imogen (née Cymbeline) and Equivocation at the American Shakespeare Center, Othello at the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, Henry IV, Part 1 at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the National Tour of Macbeth with Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Her current production of Skylight by David Hare is now playing at Palm Beach Dramaworks.

"The Gateway is thrilled to be bringing Shakespeare back to the stage for the first time in over 50 years," says Paul Allan, The Gateway's Executive Artistic Director, "TheTaming of the Shrew was the first play to be produced in the small black box style theater that was originally an iconic barn. It was the inception of a new vision of theater for the area and grew into the legacy that The Gateway has today. Original stars of our Shakespearean work being Robert Duval and Gene Hackman in the 1950s, we now have the ability to bring Shakespeare back into the modern conversation with an array of different audiences. It has always been our job to challenge our community with new and forward thinking material and this will allow us to use some of history's most famous works in a way our audiences have yet to see."

As You Like it will play for 4 performances only February 21 - 23. Ticket prices range from $35-$45. For more information visit TheGateway.org

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