From March 20-25, the Kennesaw State department of theatre and performance studies will present a live performance of “As You Like It,” an original screenplay by William Shakespeare, directed by Rick Lombardo, the department chair, and I had the opportunity to attend a rehearsal prior to Tuesday’s opening show.
The paramount thing about the performance is the original music composed by Haddon Kime. It’s a choice, one among many, that Lombardo and the cast and crew made to differentiate their version from the others.
It works handsomely. As we all know, theatre is better when people are singing, and the songs here are great. The performances—both instrumental and vocal—are done live.
If “Feathers and Teeth” were “Pulp Fiction,” then “As You Like It” is “Titanic.” It’s a huge show, with huge sets, huge effects and huge performances. Dawn Eskridge, a manager and part-time instructor of theatre and performance studies, said, “It may be the biggest thing we’ve ever done.”
And it shows. From the early “Wrestle-Mania” sequence to a snowy scene involving a group of people who’ve found refuge in the woods, there’s staggering work being done.
The performances really stand out here. Thomas Cox plays the consistently entertaining jester named Touchstone, and Andrea Mora playing Duke Senior — the woman leading a group of people traveling through the forest — brings a tactile warmth and life to the show. The pairing of Brandel Butler’s Orlando and his servant, Adam — played by Jim Wallace — makes for an early, easy protagonist.
Emily Musgrove’s Duke Frederick is an incredibly effective and exciting villain in the first act. Carson Seabolt, who plays a clumsy, lovestruck Shepard Silvius, has a recurring physical gag that virtually steals the show, and L’Oreal Roache, who plays the lead female role of Rosalinda, is also amazing.
Many KSU students will better know the story of “As You Like It” as the mid-2000’s Amanda Bynes movie “She’s the Man.” But this embodiment of the story has more parallels to Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo and Juliet,” a 1996 movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes and Harold Perrineau.
“As You Like It” preserves the traditional Shakespeare script but modernizes the story elements, and it pays off greatly here as all the actors appear to feel so at home in their roles.