Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Public Works’ healing, effervescent musical adaptation of AS YOU LIKE returns to the Delacorte

• By drediman
• September 6, 2022
• No Comments

I can’t think of a more fitting second entry to the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park summer season than Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery’s musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which has returned to the Delacorte Theatre for an encore run after proving to be a hit back in the summer of 2017, admittedly a time very different time than the current world we live in. But although things have drastically changed, the production provides the same kind of healing balm that it did five years ago, but in different ways. Indeed, the effervescent production itself prismatically functions as a sort of metaphorical Arden in and of itself, offering consoling escape and rejuvenation for those in need of it regardless of the circumstances around it. Suffice to say, the staging proves particularly potent and hopeful in this confounding era of reconsideration.

With its judicious portioning of song, dance, poetic language, and overall pageantry, the adaptation is also an ideal introduction to wonders and riches of Shakespeare’s canon. Although Ms. Taub’s irresistible score is comprised of a playful hodgepodge of musical styles, the composer/lyricist’s recognizably searching, often pointed voice is strongly evident throughout. Additionally, Ms. Woolery’s celebratory and inclusive direction (featuring accessible, distinctive choreography by Sonya Tayeh, as restaged by Billy Griffin) remains a joy to behold. Yes, the incorporation of various city community groups remains the backbone and raison d’être of the whole endeavor, as per usual for Public Works (which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary; has it already been a decade since its inaugural production?). That being said, Ms. Taub and Ms. Woolery’s As You Like It is never less than cohesively staged and dramatically vital throughout, which in itself is a wonderful accomplishment given the crowd control needed to pull off such an ambitious staging.

Many of the 2017 production’s principal performers have returned for this summer’s run, notably Rebecca Naomi Jones as Rosalind, Darius de Haas as Duke Senior, Ato Blankson-Wood as Orlando, and Ms. Taub herself as the wryly philosophical Jaques. Each is five years older and that much wiser, and it shows. There’s now a depth and urgency to their performances that deceptively belies such kind of family friendly fare. Together with their endearing amateur counterparts, the large 70-strong company is making theater that seeks to matter in the most fundamental way. Because Public Works’ As You Like It is essentially put on by the people of the city of New York, Free Shakespeare in the Park has rarely felt more emphatically for the people than it does here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

AS YOU LIKE IT
Off-Broadway, Musical
Public Works / Free Shakespeare in the Park / The Public Theater
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 11