Chris Ghaffari Leads Shakespeare on the Sound's AS YOU LIKE IT, Opening 6/13

Chris Ghaffari, in rehearsal for perhaps his biggest role, the romantic male lead in Shakespeare's pastoral comedy "As you Like It," unabashedly admits he is intrigued by the timeless fascination of the actor for the stage.

"It's the visceral and emotional connection with an audience," he says. "When you can use the text to convert the moment into an experience to be shared with the audience is when acting is its most rewarding."

Ghaffari plays the chivalrous, naïve Orlando in the Shakespeare on the Sound production unfolding June 13-30 under the stars on a grassy knoll that forms a natural amphitheater in Rowayton's Pinkney Park.

The character that Sir Laurence Olivier brought to the screen in a 1936 film is seen, with no suggestion of pretension, by Ghaffari as "a figure with the urge to transcend the circumstances and the boundaries imposed by his family."

"Orlando wants to define himself, to break out as his own man," Ghaffari says. "He is,

for example, engrossed in love poetry. The poetry is terrible. But he throws himself into it with abandon."

At 23 Ghaffari is pursuing his theatrical aspirations today from a self-described shoebox-sized apartment in his hometown, New York. He was raised in Greenwich, developed an interest in acting in class plays at Greenwich Country Day School and recently returned to his alma mater, Brunswick School, to lead a Shakespeare assembly for seniors with his old classmate Jamie Biondi.

His background covers training at The Studio/New York and a BA in English literature and theater at Princeton University where he appeared in a number of plays as a performer and added another dimension to his resume, directing. In the fall he intends to launch himself into a three-year study at the Yale School of Drama leading to a Masters of Fine Arts degree in acting.

The best actor Ghaffari ever saw?

Unequivocally, Ghaffari points to Mark Rylance, 53, a British actor-playwright, two-time Tony Award winner (2008 and 2010) and the first artistic director of the Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London (1995-2005).

"Mark is so skilled physically and vocally," Ghaffari says. "He's more graceful than anyone I've seen and gives every character he plays an incredible physical specificity. He paints with many different colors at once and he burns so brightly the audience is riveted by him. But what makes him inimitable is his marvelous sense of play. He uses the text as rules to an elaborate game he plays simultaneously with the other performers and the audience. He is always improvising, reinventing himself and sharing generously."

Ultimately, Ghaffari would like to access TV and film because he says, "you can reach a wider audience and the economy associated with that kind of exposure."

In 2008, he appeared in a minor role in Shakespeare on the Sound's presentation of "Julius Caesar." Now, in the theater's 18thyear in the park, Ghaffari is cast in a featured role opposite Katie Wieland who plays Rosalind, Orlando's love interest. She is a native of Littleton, CO, also New-York based, who recently appeared in "All's Well That Ends Well," mounted by The Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park.

In Rowayton, the production is family-focused in a venue that lends itself to picnic-style theater, the audience sprawled on blankets and low-slung deckchairs, baskets brimming with drink and goodies.

There is no charge for admission. A donation of $20 is suggested, $10 for seniors and students. Reserved seats are also available for $50. Additional information is available online at www.shakespeareonthesound.org or by calling (203) 268-2961.

Pictured: Chris Ghaffari as Orlando, rehearsing the opening scene in "As You Like It."