All you need is love, the Fab Four and Shakespeare: Beatles-infused As You Like It a surefire crowd-pleaser - Action News
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ManitobaReview

All you need is love, the Fab Four and Shakespeare: Beatles-infused As You Like It a surefire crowd-pleaser

The Royal MTC/Citadel Theatre's playful and inventive musical production of As You Like It sets Shakespeare's comedy in 1960s B.C., and mashes the Bard with the Beatles so well, you'll wonder why it hasn't been done before.

Mashing up Shakespeares comedy with Beatles tunes is an idea so good, you wonder why it wasnt done before

Daryl Cloran's kinetic, playful and inventive production of As You Like It sets Shakespeare's comedy in the 1960s, moving the action to 'the wild Okanagan,' and setting it to 25 tunes by the Beatles. (Dylan Hewlett/RMTC)

"Get to your seat 25 minutes early if you want to catch the band and some Superstar Wrestling!"

That cheerful suggestion on the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's website might be your first clue that their co-production of As You Like It (with Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, where the show heads next month) is not Shakespeare for purists.

And it's all the better for it, with a creative mashup of the Bard and the Beatles that's a surefire crowd-pleaser.

Director Daryl Cloran's adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy (the tentpole production of ShakespeareFest the 20th, and final, edition of the RMTC's annual Master Playwright Festival) was first presented in 2018 at Vancouver's Bard on the Beach festival, where its extended run reportedly broke attendance records.

This should probablycome as nosurprise. Basing a musical on the writing of the man widely considered the English language's greatest dramatistand the music of the most popular band in rock history is perhaps not a huge gamble.

But the surprise is how well it works and it's such a fitting match that you wonder why it hasn't been done before.

As the young lovers Rosalind and Orlando, Lindsey Angell and Jeff Irving anchor a cast that shows off strong voices and marvellous comic timing. (Dylan Hewlett/RMTC)

Cloran's kinetic, playful and inventive production sets Shakespeare's comedy in the 1960s, moving the central action from the forest of Arden to "the wild Okanagan" of British Columbia (a setting beautifully realized in Carmen Alatorre's far-out costumes and Pam Johnson's charming set), and putting the story to music via no fewer than 25 tunes by the Fab Four (woven in mostly seamlessly by music director Ben Elliott).

Like all Shakespeare comedies and an awful lot of Beatles songs As You Like It concerns itself with love.

Orlando (Jeff Irving), is cheated out of an inheritance by his jealous brother (Justin Stadnyk) and falls in love at first sight with Rosalind (Lindsey Angell), also a victim of injustice. She is the daughter of a banished duke (Paul Essiembre), deposed by her villainous uncle (also Essiembre).

Orlando and Rosalind both soon find themselves exiled to the forest Rosalind along with her cousin and bestie Celia (Jameela McNeil), Orlando with his trusty servant (Robb Paterson).

Shakespearean complications ensue in the woods, with gender swapping, secret notes, lusty shepherds and unrequited love.

Sarah Constible, centre, as Jaques. The 1960s B.C. setting is beautifully realized in Carmen Alatorre's far-out costumes and Pam Johnson's charming set. (Dylan Hewlett/RMTC)

Yes, it all makes about as much sense as the lyrics to I Am the Walrus (given a hilariously weird rendition here by Sarah Constible as the melancholy philosopher Jaques).

No matter. Whether you follow the twists and turns of the plot is secondary when you're having this much fun.

The tone is set right from the pre-show wrestling match, marvellously choreographed by Jonathan Hawley Purvis. (The wrestling part is actually in Shakespeare's original text though one suspects there was probably less spandex involved in 1598.)

From there, Cloran's 2 -hour production moves at a whip-smart pace, with laughs and Beatles tunes alike coming at a steady clip.

In a few spots the tunes seem to appear a bit randomly, but that's a quibble the important thing is that the 15-member cast, some of whom also pick up instruments to double as the live band, handle the show's musical demands with aplomb.

The setting sometimes brings fresh new resonance to Beatles classics, as when Rosalind disguised as Ganymede, a man sings You've Got to Hide Your Love Away.

Yes, there's wrestling too. This As You Like It is not Shakespeare for purists, but it is a surefire crowd-pleaser. Paul Essiembre, centre, is delightful as the comically rotten Duke Frederick. Kayvon Khoshkam, centre in ring, also brings some wonderfully over-the-top laughs as Touchstone. (Dylan Hewlett/RMTC)

As the foppish jester Touchstone, Kayvon Khoshkam brings a wonderfully unhinged energy to Helter Skelterwhilehe fights for the love of the simple shepherdess Audrey (a delightfully odd Jenny McKillop). At the other end of the spectrum, Austin Eckert (as an exiled lord) gives a tender rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

In addition to their strong voices, the cast also shows off great comic timing throughout.

Farren Timoteo, seen at RMTC last season in his own solo show Made in Italy, is a standout, displaying his considerable physical clowning prowess (and some crisp dance moves) as the hapless shepherd Silvius, hopelessly in love with the vain Phoebe (Emily Dallas).

Khoshkam also brings some delightfully over-the-top laughs as Touchstone.

Essiembre does impressive double duty, both representing "The Man" as the comically rotten Duke Frederick, and embodying the grooviness of peace, love and understanding as the deposed Duke Senior.

Farren Timoteo, left, is a standout, displaying his considerable physical clowning prowess (and some snappy dance moves) as the hapless shepherd Silvius, hopelessly in love with the vain Phoebe (Emily Dallas). (Dylan Hewlett/RMTC)

As Jaques, Constible delicately handles one ofShakespeare's most well-known speeches the "Seven Ages of Man" speech (which famously begins with the line "All the world's a stage").

And as the central lovers often a thanklessly humourless role Angell and Irving both give spirited comedic performances, still delivering a credible chemistry as two young people very much in love (and more than just a little randy).

It's not much of a spoiler to say things work out fairly well for the assorted lovers.

And it's hard to think of amore fitting song to usher in the joyous final scene of a Shakespeare pastoral comedy than Here Comes the Sun or a more suitable note to end on than a reminder that All You Need is Love.

Shakespeare meets the Beatles in RMTC's As You Like It

5 years ago
Duration 1:41
As You Like It runs at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's John Hirsch Mainstage until Feb. 1 as part of ShakespeareFest.