BTC production promises to deliver "As You Like It" (Feb. 7-17)
Director Adrianne Krstansky adds her own innovative approach to a Shakespeare classic
“As You Like It”
By William Shakespeare
February 7-17, 2008
Laurie Theater
Directed by Adrianne Krstansky, faculty member
WALTHAM, Mass. – This winter the Brandeis Theater Company (BTC) is presenting one of William Shakespeare’s
classic crowd pleasers. “As You Like It,” a twisting tale of disguises, love and betrayal, will run from Feb. 7-17 in the Laurie Theater.
Faculty member Adrianne Krstansky, a recent Michael Walzer Teaching Award recipient, is directing Shakespeare’s whimsical, pastoral comedy. The show will feature her own imaginative style and innovative approach.
“I try to tell the story in the clearest way I know how while incorporating as many cultural references, both literal and subliminal, as I can,” Krstansky said. “This includes things, images, behaviors and gestures that today's audience will respond to intellectually and emotionally.”
Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke falls in love with Orlando, the disinherited son of one of the duke's friends. When she is banished from the court by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick, Rosalind switches genders and as “Ganymede” travels with her loyal cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in exile. By the play's end Ganymede, once again Rosalind, marries her Orlando. Two other sets of lovers are also wed, one of them Celia and Orlando's mean older brother Oliver. As Oliver becomes a gentler, kinder young man so the duke conveniently changes his ways and turns to religion and so that the exiled duke, father of Rosalind, can rule once again.
“I love how Rosalind grapples with love,” Krstansky said. “She feels the possibilities of it, the idealism, and romanticism. Simultaneously, she has the courage and sense of humor it takes to live in the light and darkness of imperfect human love. Rosalind embodies the hope we all have that we will fall in love, forget the world, and dwell in the divine.”
The cast includes Brandeis undergraduate students, MFA acting students and Liz Terry, a professional actress and Brandeis faculty member, in the role of Jacques. The play will contain original music composed by award winning sound designer J Hagenbuckle, dance choreography by Brandeis faculty member Susan Dibble and fight choreography by alum Ted Hewlett.
With “As You Like It,” the BTC continues its quest to explore cultures from around the world through live theater in the 2007-08 season. The season is made possible through generous support from the Laurie Foundation, the Robin, Barbara and Malcolm L. Sherman Endowment for the Performing Arts, the Jaffe Foundation, the Herbert and Kim Marie Beigel New Play Fund, the Ann ’56 and Clive Cummis Family Foundation and the Poses Fund.
Location and Tickets
Brandeis Theater Company productions are performed in the intimate theaters of the Spingold Theater Center, located on the Brandeis University campus at 415 South St. in Waltham, Mass. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling 781-736-3400. For directions and more information, visit www.brandeis.edu/btc.
About the Brandeis Theater Company
Created in 2005, the Brandeis Theater Company is a model for training theater artists that is unique in the Boston area. The company is an ensemble of students, guest artists, faculty and staff of the Theater Arts Department committed to producing progressive, dynamic programming.
