WWU Theatre and Dance to Present Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ June 1-4
The Western Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance will present Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It” on the Mainstage of the Performing Arts Center June 1-4; performances are nightly at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, June 4.
The story follows Rosalind, who is forced to flee her comfortable life at court and escape, dressed as a man, into the Forest of Arden. While disguised as a man, Rosalind encounters a cast of idiosyncratic characters and mismatched couples. She also discovers and falls in love with Orlando. Still in her manly disguise, Rosalind teaches Orlando the meaning of true love
Director Evan Mueller, assistant professor of Theatre, has been involved with theatre since third grade, and first acted in Shakespeare in high school, performing a scene from “Julius Caesar” in his English class. He later performed in a professional production of “Taming of the Shrew” at the Warehouse Theatre in South Carolina, which was influential to his approach to Shakespeare.
“It was an excellent, alive, immediate, and funny production, which set a way of thinking about Shakespeare for me” said Mueller of the experience. “Instead of seeing Shakespeare as a museum of theatre, it’s actually a thing that’s worth seeing and worth doing. Something that can move you and make you laugh.”
“As You Like It” is one of Mueller’s favorite Shakespeare plays.
“It’s about Rosalind – and how she handles falling in love,” Mueller says. “She’s an intelligent, sensitive, witty character caught in a situation where she’s forced to improvise her way through this crazy stuff that’s happening to her – and in the end she gets to be with the guy she’s desperately in love with.”
The WWU production will feature original music composed in collaboration with the cast under the direction of Amber Sudduth Bone of the Music Department and alumnus Evan Ingalls. The music will be composed and developed throughout the rehearsals. It will be performed live on stage by the ensemble of actors.
“The Duke’s men who have been banished to the forest will have been practicing and playing music with whatever instruments they can find and amuse themselves with – guitars, fiddles, banjos, drums, etc.,” Mueller said of the play’s style of the music.
Mueller has edited the play so the total duration will be about two hours. In addition to live music, the production features a wrestling match, and one of Shakespeare’s well-known speeches “All the world’s a stage.”
Tickets are $15-17 with a $7 discount for all students on all seats. Tickets are available at the WWU Ticket Office at 360-650-6146 or online at tickets.wwu.edu. Parking for all performances will be available in lots adjacent to the Performing Arts Center, where patrons can pay by the hour.
For information on parking or disability accommodation, call the Ticket Office.