Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT Comes To The Latea NYC Theater
By: Julie Musbach May. 29, 2019
At a time where civil liberties are under assault, there is a need to look into our past and explore how great artistic works and our history can shed light on our path forward. A new production of As You Like It takes a classic work and revisits another period of great unrest in America. The production explores societal divides and offers an opportunity for rebirth and creativity.
Founded four years ago and recently renamed, The Mechanicals (www.themechanicalsnyc.com) is a theater company dedicated to producing new, classic, and underperformed plays that touch on our collective connection and spirit, with a core focus on social and economic justice.
Directed by Alexis Confer (whose credits include Off-Broadway's Shakespeare Classics like Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and Cymbeline), As You Like it invites you to travel with us to the America of the 1960s..
The plot of As You Like It is timeless; yet it provides us an opportunity to explore how we look at our more recent past and our present. In The Mechanicals' production, we explore opposing ideologies on the war in Vietnam and the general state of life in their town between, Duke Senior and Duke Frederick. The former is banished and ousted from the family business by his younger brother. Duke Senior decides to cast off his wealth and live a simple life in the Forest of Arden with his fellow anti-war protesters, musicians. and peace loving friends. With her father gone, Rosalind and her cousin Celia decide to run away to Arden to be with him. Before they leave, Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, who is hated by his elder brother, Oliver who not only has all the power in the family, but wants him killed. Fearing for her life due to the fall out with her uncle, Rosalind disguises herself and flees into the forest with her beloved cousin and their eccentric friend Touchstone. Explore the love, peace, turmoil, music, social clashes, and the politics of the day through the lens of the Bard. The names and times may change, but for the stage of our world, all the men and women remain merely players.
Much like the Mechanicals of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, we are a group of multi-disciplinary artists who love creating together and investing in the New York City.
Our works lean into the unique opportunities that the city has to offer. Our shows feature original music, time to get to know other audience members and the cast, and showcase the beautiful and interactive theaters of lower Manhattan.
As You Like It at Teatro LATEA opens on June 20th and closes on June 30th, 2019. Tickets are $35 and are available online at themechanicalsnyc.com.
About the Cast
- Rosalind: Natalie Hoy
- Orlando: Jeffrey Marc Alkins
- Celia: Ashley Burroughs *
- Jaques: Ruthellen Cheney
- Touchstone: Eric Ryan Swanson
- Duke Senior: Roland Sands *
- Duke Frederick/Adam: Joseph Bowen *
- Oliver: Sam Parrott
- Phebe: Karen Johal
- Silvius/Musician: Aaron Orlov *
- Corin/Lord: Matt Mykityshyn
- Audrey/U/S Rosalind: Mildred Gil
- Dennis/William: Jeremy Rafal
- Charles/Jacques de Boys: Joshua Balan
- Martext/Hymen/Lord: Marisa Brau
- Amiens: Alessandra Migliaccio
- Le Beau/Lord: Jeannette Faye
About the Director/Founder
Founder Alexis Confer believes public service and the arts should be one and the same. Alexis works proudly in public service - having worked at the NYC Mayor's Office, on the 2012 re-election campaign of President Barack Obama and for national advocacy organizations like Everytown for Gun Safety.
As a director, improviser, producer and actor, Alexis has been a part of shows across the globe from the East Coast to Kenya, most recently producing The Fourth Graders Present An Unnamed Love Suicide at Access Theater and directing Shakespeare's Cymbeline and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Theatre 80 St. Marks. A big believer in making art and theater part of our everyday life, Alexis is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Mechanicals. Alexis also co-founded Plays for Progress and OFFLINE Productions where she directed works like Generation WHY, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night. A graduate of GWU and NYU, Alexis proudly works in public service.
Company Production Team:
- Artistic Director/Founder: Alexis Confer
- Visual Design/Producer: Cecilia Faraut
- Music Director/Composer: Tom Lee
- Assistant Director: Tom Giordano *
- Stage Manager: Sarah Zerod
- Resident Playwright/New Works Curator: Ruthellen Cheney
- Business Manager/Producer: David Martinez
- Choreographer: Jessica Bailey Bartini
- Fight Choreographer: McKey Carpenter *
- Costume Designer: Erin Marsz
- Dramaturg: Ashley Burroughs *
- Marketing Associate: Kelsey Usher
- Marketing Associate: Dawn Watkins
- Props Master: Aimee Kibbe
- Technical Adviser: Emily Hicks Dragulev
- Box Office and Finance: Alex Christian
- Photographer: Ted Alcorn
- Cinematographer: Billy Faraut
- Text Coach: Sam Parrott
- Dance Captain: Joshua Balan
- Music Captain: Jeremy Rafal
*Courtesy of Actors Equity
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