BWW Previews: AS YOU LIKE IT at Manning Park

This weekend, Santa Barbara Shakespeare presents As You Like It, a Shakespearian gender-bent forest frolic, in Montecito's Manning Park. Director Anna Jensen has crafted a comedy with feminist notes, adding modern texture to the 16th-century play about love triangles, mistaken identity, and transformed awareness. Bring a picnic and a bottle of wine, and join Santa Barbara Shakespeare in the Forest of Arden to experience the revelry of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies.

Duke Frederick (Don Margolin) has usurped the court from his brother, Duke Senior (also Don Margolin), who is banished to the Forest of Arden. Senior's daughter, Rosalind (Brittany Harter), and niece, Celia (Danielle Draper), flee the court after his banishment and seek refuge in the woods. The women are undercover, but not alone: they cross paths with fools, travellers, shepherds, and wrestlers aplenty, making for a remarkable journey through Shakespearian fringe society. True to format, the characters pair off in the end for a matrimonial extravaganza, with Rosalind marrying the fawning Orlando (Matt Smith). Jensen names the theme of transformation as critical to her approach--both in the literal movement from the court to the forest and the emotional transformation the characters undertake as they connect with a sensibility evolved by the fresh and freeing culture of Arden. "As You Like It dramatizes the metamorphosis of a world captivated by tyranny and released into emancipation," says Jensen. "Our society and audience, currently under stress from declining democratic values, can find comic delight and even hope in Shakespeare's story of transformation." Jensen says this transformation is energized by the heroine, Rosalind--a character that provides one of Shakespeare's most significant female roles. "She commands and directs the shape of the plot...How fitting, at this time, to have a woman serve as the impetus for a more enlightened world order."

As You Like It is the second annual production from Santa Barbara Shakespeare, a company that purposes to make Shakespeare more accessible to the local population. The shows are "pay-what-you-can" (with a suggested small donation) and the autumn afternoon setting on the grassy slopes of Manning park is an appealingly casual way to enjoy Shakespeare's young lovers. "Manning Park absolutely reminds me of Shakespeare's pastoral forest," says Jensen. "I picked this play so I could expand the theatrical space of the play to the setting all around the audience." Jensen also found similarities between the conceptual space of Arden Forest and Santa Barbara: "Santa Barbara is imagined as a paradise in a way that resembles how Shakespeare and his contemporaries thought of the forest of Arden. The characters go on a journey to Arden to recuperate from the hostilities and tyrannies of court life. They believe they can recapture something more honest and more vital in the natural landscape. They experience a readjustment of their relationship to the world, to themselves, and to others. That's the promise of Santa Barbara to many people, visitors and inhabitants alike."

Accessibility also indicates user-friendliness: Shakespearian dialogue can sound florid to the unaccustomed ear, and the concentration needed for mental translation can be cumbersome. The gap between hearing and comprehension is bridged by context gleaned through action. "We try to illuminate the text so it's crystal clear...when the actor plays the meaning of the words, the audience gets it too. That's the magic of acting," says Jensen. "Although Shakespeare is writing in modern English, we no longer have the same cultural references as he did--bodkins, Helen of Troy, Atalanta, Dido, and the like. Much of Shakespeare's humor can be lost in those references." Despite antiquated allusions to pop-culture of yore, the themes and sentiments of the play remain relevant. "Shakespeare took on the serious and powerful experiences and emotions that human being encounter," says Jensen. "There's something over-awing about the richness of his texts and words. Beauty is always relevant."

Shakespeare in the park connects the audience with the authentic, open-air experience of much Reanaissance theatre, and offers celebration of the natural world. Take a picnic, take your friends, and then take in a breath of fresh air--and get lost in the Forest of Arden!

As You Like It features: Brittany Harter, Matthew Smith, Lindsey Twigg, Spencer James, Danielle Draper, Blake Benlan, Katelin Curtis, Don Margonlin, Harrison Derbyshire, Meredith McMinn, Alexandre Beale, Dean Garcia, Lucas Nelson, Taylor Vaughn, Ben Paris, and Megan Palmer.

Manning Park
Pay-What-You-Can Donation
Saturday, October 13th @ 4pm
Sunday, October 14th @ 12pm and 4pm