From the Monday, March 10, 1975 issue of the Rice Thresher:
Eager cast takes on magical "As You Like It"
by ELAINE BONILLA
It's that time of year again: time for sixteenth century fanfare and excitement in the Baker
quadrangle, and time for sixteenth century theatre in the Baker commons. This year the
Baker selection is As You Like It, one of Shakespeare's less familiar plays.
The plot concerns various pairs of lovers who escape from the civilized world to the
forest of Arden, where the elder Duke (whose throne has been usurped) is hiding out with
his faithful band of followers. Once in the forest, the magic of the surroundings takes
over, and Rosalind and Celia, who are travelling together, take on disguises. Rosalind
dresses as a man, and in that guise meets Orlando, whom she loves. Discovering that he
loves her also, she embarks on a series of meetings with him, without letting out her real
identity. After various complications have passed, she reveals herself to him, all the other
lovers come together, and everyone leaves the forest to return to their city and live
happily ever after.
Director Cash Tilton is presenting the play with a mood of fun and magic. "It's a
changing, developing thing, with some glamour and tinsel, and a spectacular wrestling
scene." He feels that the play is "about performers, with lots of different levels of
reality.... There are set speeches that very obviously the character has set up over a long
period of time. When an actor does it, it can be very dull, but when the actor does it as the
character going into his little routine it's kind of fun."
Taking up the challenge of playing this show is an active, eager cast of eighteen. "There
are a bunch of new people that Rice theatergoers haven't seen before, and some very
familiar faces," says Tilton. He adds, "it's a remarkably even cast."
The pair of lovers, Rosalind and Orlando, head the list, played by Nancy Dingus and
Beau Sharbrough. Brian Pedeaux is Jacques, the contemplative cynic, and Joe Crites is
the common-sense jester, Touchstone. Cathy Rudolph and Woody Kay make up the
second set of lovers, Celia and Oliver.
Also featured are Jack Kent, Don Holson, Jim Guenter, Dieter Heymann, Alexi
Bonifield, Jay Rudin, Lynnie Cover, Luana Kay Lewis, Jeff Libby, Quinn Chipley, Clark
Herrin, and Judy Ravdin.
It's a series of "variations on lovers." Tilton smiles. "There's the purely physical and the
purely romantic -- and the hero and heroine desperately trying to strike a middle path....
It's a very funny show."
David Safford has designed a set to fit both civilization and the freedom of the forest of
Arden, setting platforms and levels across the center of the Baker commons, and going so
far as to fly scenery from the lofty rafters themselves. Becky Greene is costuming the
show out of old Errol Flynn movies of the 1940's, taking her direction from the idea of
people going out into the woods and living like Robin Hood, and Kevin Allin is doing the
lighting.
As You Like It will open March 18, with a champagne reception following, and will run
through March 22. Curtain is at 8pm in the Baker Commons.
From the Thursday, March 20, 1975 issue of the Rice Thresher:
Baker's "As You Like It"
captures essence of true love
without losing wit, charm
by DAVE DANGLO
Ah, love!
That's about as lyrical as I can get about the matter. There are poets, however, who have
it all thought out and can dash off a few hundred verses on the subject by day -- and in
the case of one William Shakespeare, have time to produce plays by night. In the spirit of
those feelings that we all succumb to now and then, but are rarely able to express
ourselves about, Baker Theater gilds the Commons with a pretty, trippingly sensitive As
You Like It.
The product glitters and glows with a consistently special air of camaraderie and love of
all measures, fleshed out with the same wit and elegance that produced the more slaphappy, stronger Twelfth Night and the more magical Midsummer's Night Dream [sic].
But the air of As You Like It is more distilled, purer with only the weakest of forces to
mar the almost unblemished atmosphere. Its fairy tale characters weave in and out of the
mythical forest of Arden in a variety of moves and countermoves, changes and counterchanges, that so affectingly approach the realities of true loving and sincere joys.
Baker's cast and crew tackle Shakespeare's As You Like It with verve and good feeling.
From a first, peripheral glance, the set, the costumes, even the program have been
exquisitely thought out. The two-sided stage is framed and decorated with a translucent
overlay of forest and fruit; the clothing fits. Physically rendered with charm and almost
magical appeal, the technical side is as exact as a good Shakespearean couplet.
As for the cast, there are few performances that are less than first-rate. It is on the
shoulders of Rosalind that much of the action is generated. Beset by the realities of a
royal father banished from his kingdom, she precariously finds herself under the rule of a
mean and usurping uncle. When ordered to exile, she takes the opportunity to explore
what has hitherto touched her life in only a few ways -- love -- and becomes an expert on
the subject in no time at all. Nancy Dingus portrays the headstrong maiden in a very
engaging, very likeable performance, taking a deep breath and throwing all her willpower
into grasping the stage and mastering it. This unswervingly energetic characterization
exposes what has made Rosalind the classic character she is considered today.
In rounding out the leading pair of As You Like It, director Cash Tilton has flipped a
rare coin and found Rosalind's perfect counterpart -- a beguiling, equally wholesome
Orlando who "Trips up a wrestler's heels and [her] heart at the same time." Beau
Sharbrough's headstrong performance is a tribute to Shakespeare's young cavalier.
Together they are a delight: Rosalind in control but wanting to be controlled, Orlando
unsure at times of what she really is but quite capable of taking on the totally unlaborious
task of loving her. Cathy Rudolph's Celia and Joe Crites' Touchstone winningly round out
the merry band that plunges heartily into the forest in search of anything that might be
found in the wild. Miss Rudolph's Celia has a pretty voice and sensitive demeanor that
provides [sic] a nice balance in her relationship with the more fearless Roz. Touchstone,
the local fool, is affably played by Crites with equal measure of wit and passion.
Handsomely cast, Crites takes good advantages of Touchstone's memorable moments in
the play.
The minor characters in the show are not enacted by minor players either. The casting of
Amiens, the banished Duke's minstrel, provides a unique counterpoint to the dominating
femininity of Rosalind. Alexi Bonifeld sings with difficulty, but her saucy, sultry manner
often proves a point. Then there's a raw piece of pastoral flesh named Audrey, a peach of
a girl played quite naturally by Luana Ray Lewis and the little Bo-Peeping shepherd girl
Phebe, played with irrepressible giulde by Lynnie Cover. Bryan Pedeaux's Jacques is also
a treat; his clever melancholy flows with the dominant humor of the play. Jay Rudin is a
rather subdued queen as the affected courtier Le Beau, and Quinn Chipley has a flashy
cameo as a bumpkin.
Without carping on a few botched cues, cats wandering around the stage and other
opening night hazards, I must admit that Shakespeare won me over again, with no small
help from Cash Tilton and his crew. As You Like It runs through Saturday. Believe me,
you'll like it.
Dave Danglo, '74, is currently Stage Editor of the Houston Scene.
From an issue of the Houston Post, date unknown:
Theater: "As You Like It"
AS YOU LIKE IT -- Shakespeare's comedy. Directed by Cash Tilton. David Safford,
sets. Rebecca Greene, costumes. Presented Tuesday night in Baker College Commons,
Rice University. Repeats nightly 8 p.m. through Saturday.
Beau Sharbrough (Orlando), Nancy Dingus (Rosalind), Cathy Rudolph (Celia), Joseph D.
Crites (Touchstone), Bryan Pedeaux (Jacques), Jim Guenter (Duke Senior).
By WILLIAM ALBRIGHT
I would have liked Baker College's "As You Like It" to start on time Tuesday night. But
the play, part of the Renaissance festival that included a Lord and Lady Godiva contest or
some such, was likeable enough even 25 minutes late.
Shakespeare's delightfully frothy comedy contrasts the excesses and nonsense of courtly
and contry [sic] life. Banished dukes, usurpers, melancholic courtiers, philosophic
clowns, lovesick shepherds and maidens "en travesti" people the stage, and the number of
actors needed taxed Baker's student troupe.
But almost all of them seem to be having fun, and much of that enjoyment was
transmitted Tuesday night. Beau Sharbrough made a capable Orlando, out-wrestling Don
Holson's ponderous Charles, given to breaking chains and even rending stones, in the
unlikeliest match this side of Friday night in the Coliseum.
Nancy Dingus and especially Cathy Rudolph brought commitment to Rosalind and Celia,
Dieter Hayman [sic] was a super-angry Frederick, and Bryan Pedeaux was a Jacques
more puckered than sad. But Joseph Crites mined little of the wit in Touchstone's
speeches. Cash Tilton directed, and Rebecca Greene contributed some attractive
costumes.
Last modified March 25, 1997 by Proteus Internet Information. Send corrections or comments. And if you don't like it, well you can just go get
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