‘As You Like it’ is light, fun

Tom Titus

If mid-afternoon romantic comedy under the open sky is theater as you

like it, then you’ll have a fun time at the latest Shakespeare in the

Park production of the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

The city’s Central Park doubles for the Forest of Arden in “As You

Like It,” one of the Bard’s later efforts and one of his most

lightweight. At this point in his career, Shakespeare had gimmicks

like token cross-dressing facades and fools dispensing wisdom down to

a science, and he employed them generously in this late-16th century

play.

In the Huntington Beach production, director Wendi de Barros has

added a few ad-libs and inside jokes to the Shakespearean

pronouncements, and this play certainly can use them. Her core

coterie of actors is quite accomplished, resulting in some vividly

animated moments on the amphitheater stage.

Particularly impressive in the central role of Rosalind, the young

woman who poses as a man to pursue her love interest, Orlando -- who,

like her, has been banished from the dukedom -- is Amy Oldham (who

may have to change that name in her more mature years). Oldham revels

in the thinly disguised character (a Robin Hood hat is the principal

alteration) as she practices being herself with Orlando and fends off

advances from a smitten female.

Orlando is dynamically interpreted by Dimas Diaz, who gets the

play off to a rousing start in a virulent faceoff with his elder

brother, sneeringly interpreted by Ariel Delgado. This rivalry

establishes a dramatic basis for the forest shenanigans to follow.

Lana Joy is a joy indeed as Celia, Rosalind’s beloved cousin and

ally in her romantic scheme. Her effervescence is one of the most

watchable aspects of the Huntington Beach production, particularly

when she melts the previously steely Delgado.

There’s comedy relief in the form of a luckless swain (Robert

Purcell) pursuing a young maiden (Mary-Pat Gonzalez) who’ll take

Purcell’s character if she cannot win the male-disguised Rosalind.

Gabriel Haastrup waxes eloquently as the jester Touchstone while he

sets his foolscap for the buxom charms of Audrey (Elise Brown).

Shakespeare missed the boat when he didn’t allow the domineering

Duke Frederick any more stage time. As played by Dan Gonzalez, the

evil overlord could have been a primary ingredient in the conflict.

Don Ellis excels in three characterizations, from ancient servant to

nobleman to cleric.

Lesser impact is rendered by Scott Reichert as the benign banished

duke and James Reagan as an overwrought wrestler. Kathleen Lowcock

contributes some pleasing melodies while Alexandrea Culp, David

Rusiecki and Will Vourlas complete the cast in background

assignments.

Original music composed by the director’s father, longtime

playhouse personage Phil de Barros, embellishes the production and

helps set a lighter mood for some of the play’s more serious aspects.

Cassandra Sleeper’s set dressing and properties also fit quite

nicely.

“As You Like It” is among the less-significant comedies in the

Shakespearean canon, but the Huntington Beach Playhouse production is

an enjoyable dose of al fresco foolishness.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.