Review: CURATE SHAKESPEARE: AS YOU LIKE IT at TCC A Farcical Journey

Most people know why they go watch theatre. The lights, the glamor, the escape from life into the people on the stage, but why do people act? What is the point of putting on a show for an audience of zero? Don Nigro's Curate Shakespeare: As You Like It explores these questions using a cast of seven actors to put on one of the Bard's biggest plays for an imaginary crowd. A difficult task taken on with passion and dedication by Director Jacob Harrelson who took one month and a whole lot of chaos and turned it into a hilarious piece that creeps into the crevices of the mind and heart.

Discord abounds with seven actors playing both the base characters (referred to as players) acting as over thirty characters in the hacked to pieces production of the Bard's As You Like It while dealing with their own personal conflicts. The whole piece is a love letter to William Shakespeare, delivered lovingly by Director Harrelson. Harrelson was right at the end of moving out of his Tallahassee home when he received the offer to direct, and he jumped at the opportunity. His knowledge of Shakespeare and his tender guidance of the cast came together in a production that he hopes will leave people with more than just the memory of a few lighthearted chuckles.

This cast of students channeled every obstacle thrown at them and treated it as "method acting" for their crazy characters. Within the month of rehearsals one actor had to be replaced, and another literally broke his leg. Where some may have stumbled this team rolled with it and used their challenges to improvise some hilarious moments.

The Curate, played by Matthew Thompson, is the spry old man who drives and guides these, sometimes reluctant, actors into bringing his vision of the Bard to the stage. Within the play, Thompson the Curate switches between six roles quickly distinguishing each character from the other. Something that came fairly easily to him with his experience in speech and debate. The only other actor who actually surpasses Thompson in variety of roles played is Andrew Falls who plays the Clown. Falls is actually the actor who broke his leg midway through rehearsals, and his first call was to the director to figure out how to work around his injury. Turning misfortune into an advantage his character rolls around in a wheelchair adding an extra level of humor to his Clown.

In the same week that Falls broke his leg, the actor playing Amiens was replaced by Daniel Santilla in another stroke of bad luck that turned out well. Santilla only had about a week to read through his lines, which seems fitting as his character is notorious for forgetting his lines. One would never guess that he had such little time to learn his lines from his excellent delivery and the chemistry between him and fellow actress Chelsea Hart-Cantabene who plays his love interest CeliA. Hart-Cantabene's played the most reluctant character, adding conflict within the play and delivering some of the strongest lines with intense emotion.

The far more affectionate pair in this production was Audrey and William played by Alexa Roddenberry and Gerian Arias respectively. They shared many moments of on stage chemistry as well as crisis of identity. Where Hart-Cantabene's Celia asks "why bother?", this pair draws the audience into the struggles of actors morphing through their roles. Roddenberry plays Audrey who plays Rosalind who pretends to be Ganymede, and deals with the many layers of characters with great skill as she and Arias romance each other and show some of the greatest growth in the play.

If one actress threatened to steal the show, it was Erin Lustria who just returned to the stage after a year long hiatus. Her performance as the insane player Rosalind made for some of the most hilarious moments in the show. Lustria's plays Rosalind's insanity both into some ridiculous moments, but also one of the most human characters on stage. Also acting as the chorus she is the only character to command the stage on her own, which she does with great hilarity, occasional commentary, and song. She draws laughs from her first skip onto stage until her final monolog where Lustria says she truly becomes Rosalind again.

Everything in the play worked together in harmony from the actors, to the set, to the excellent lighting. Ken Frederickson's set had the intimate feeling of a black box put on a main stage which allowed the actors to flow between scenes with their many, many, props and costume changes. The costuming in this play was vital in defining each player and their many different characters. Crystal Nelson worked the careful balance of having each costume be as ridiculous and incongruous as the play demanded, and reflect each distinct character. There was never a question of who was on stage.

The lighting was one of the most pleasant surprises in the production. Todd Teagarden's design was professional and moved along with the play's chaotic cast as they switched between scenes at the drop of a hat. The lighting helped hugely in defining each scene, from the moments between player to the Shakespearean monologues never breaking the immersion.

The play, in a lot of ways, was like an onion. As the layers are peeled away more and more is revealed until we reach the heart of the production, even as it threatens to pull tears from our eyes. Through all the modern humor and Shakespearean comedy we are taken on a farcical journey through the intimate experience of actors on a stage struggling for their purpose. With all the challenges and obstacles the actors' love of the experience shines through and leaves one with more than just a few chuckles from their night out.

Curate Shakespeare: As You Like It is running at TCC's Turner Auditorium Sept. 29th-Oct. 8th. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

Photo Credits: Brandon Buck

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