As You Like It at San Francisco Playhouse

San Francisco Playhouse continues its 20th Anniversary season with the imaginative and exhilarating hit musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, helmed by San Francisco Playhouse’s Artistic Director Bill English with music direction by Dave Dobrusky and choreography by Nicole Helfer. This rollicking tale follows exiles making a new life in a strange new place, further complicated by lovers-in-disguise, features an original folk-pop score by one of the most exciting new voices in musical theater, Shaina Taub (Off-Broadway’s Suffs, Twelfth Night seen at San Francisco Playhouse last season, and the upcoming The Devil Wears Prada musical with Sir Elton John). Taub teamed up with The Public Theater’s Director of Public Works Laurie Woolery to transform the Bard’s beloved comedy into an exuberant testament to acceptance and diversity, serving as an apt reminder of what’s possible in today’s divisive era. Forced from their homes, Duke Senior and his followers escape to the idyllic Forest of Arden, where all are welcomed and embraced. Lost amidst the trees, the refugees find community under the stars, assisted by a lively cast of characters including a waggish court clown, a melancholy philosopher, down-to-earth locals, and several amorous pairs of would-be lovers. Recently presented by The Public Theater’s Public Works program after dazzling audiences in 2017, The New York Times lauded this musical adaptation as “rollicking, poignant and flat-out delightful. This ‘As You Like It’ offers a utopian vision of a society that favors acceptance over division, honesty over obfuscation, grace over meanness.”

SHOWS:

Previews: Thursday, November 17 – Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Opening: Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Closes: Saturday, January 14, 2023

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: 7pm

Fridays & Saturdays: 3pm & 8pm

Sundays: 2pm & 7pm