Review: SHAKESPEARE: DRUM & COLOURS - AS YOU LIKE IT at Seattle Shakespeare Company

Dear Readers, after last week's less than stellar "Hamlet" from Seattle Shakespeare Company's "Drum and Colours" series, I was trepidatious to say the least, for this week's premiere of "Shakespeare: Drum & Colours - As You Like It". And while there were still some issues I had with the show, thank the Theatre Gods it was far better, and managed to engage and entertain throughout.

If you're unfamiliar, this is one of Shakespeare's plays where a woman disguised as a man, falls for another man while another woman falls for her. He tended to like that theme. In this case it's Rosalind (Ayo Tushinde) who's been exiled and she and her cousin Celia (Rachel Guyer-Mafune) flee to the forest with Rosalind posing as Celia's brother, Ganymede. Meanwhile Orlando (Miguel Castellano) has also been exiled and flees to the same forest. Rosalind and Orlando briefly met before their exile and fell for each other but now in the forest, Orlando can only see her as a man, Ganymede. She convinces Orlando he should practice wooing her as Ganymede to get over Rosalind but that of course backfires. Meanwhile a shepherdess, Phebe (Kathy Hsieh) spurs her shepherd pursuer, Silvius (Bob Williams) for the fair Ganymede, and the hilarity flies. There's a lot more here including lost fathers and an attack by a bear, but I'll let you experience that for yourself.

What director Lamar Legend and the cast manage here that the previous show couldn't is to actually convey intent. And by conveying it they make the old English not such a chore to get through. And that's 80% of getting a Shakespeare show across to an audience.

There are still some problems. This theme of a WPA program in the 30's and 40's still doesn't lend anything to the piece other than costumes and a reason to put up a ramshackle wooden set. Plus, this adaptation from Legend seems to have a few holes. Oliver (Arjun Pande) is supposed to be scheming to have his brother Orlando killed so he alone can inherit their father's estate which sets up everything for the banishment and the eventual reconciliations. But that scheme never saw light. Plus, there's the bear. There's a scene where Oliver recounts Orlando fighting a bear. I've seen it acted out which usually lends itself to some fun but here Oliver just told us about it. Surprising especially since half of the cast is listed in the program as "Bear" along with their regular characters, but we never once saw a bear.

It's things like this, some interminable scene changes, plus the first time I've seen a repeated dick/blow job joke presented in Shakespeare that gave me pause but luckily the main cast managed to overcome that. Tushinde and Guyer-Mafune are the definite stand outs here as their relationship is crystal clear and thoroughly engaging. As are the moments with their soon to be lovers played by Castellano and Pande. The antics from those two couples made the show what it is, a raucous comedy. The dick jokes almost took it too far over the top as Tushinde stuffs her pants to show she's a man and stuffs way too much causing Hsieh to fall for her. And she falls for her because of her big penis? It allowed for some physical comedy but just felt forced and out of place here.

Oh, and I must give a shout out to Nike Imoru who has the smaller role here as Charles the wrestler and who managed to set the tone perfectly from the top with some superb wrestling antics. She and Castellano may not make for the greatest wrestlers, but they certainly made me laugh.

The show wasn't perfect, but it was fun and coherent which was a far cry above the previous one. And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give Seattle Shakespeare Company's production of "Shakespeare: Drum & Colours - As You Like It" a "you made me chuckle more than once" YAY-. If you're jonesing for some live Shakespeare, this is the one to go for.

"Shakespeare: Drum & Colours - As You Like It" from Seattle Shakespeare Company performs at the Center House Theatre through March 13th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.seattleshakespeare.org.

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