Ahhh, retirement! I went to As You Like It at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN. I haven't been to the GRSF for a long time, I guess, or at least hadn't blogged about it. Then I saw Taming, and while I liked the production well enough, I guess, it reinforced my hatred of the play.
On the other hand, their production of AYLI was a delight! Very fun romp of a production, with some wonderfully creative moments. For example, they made a lot more of the wrestling scene (which was more mixed martial arts with kicks and punches) than usual, and every so often would go into super slow motion. One of those times, Orlando leaned back in the way that Keanu Reeves did in The Matrix, except instead of some fancy special effects, they had another actor back to back with him which was both effective and added humor.
And every time two characters "fell in love" (not necessarily at first site, since it happened to Corin and Sylvia after she was stuck with him), everything would come to a stop, special lights and music would hit for a moment, and Voila, LOVE!
Best of all, the three main characters, Rosalind, Celia, and Orlando, were played by stellar actors, who were not only individually good, but who had really beautiful chemistry on stage together. Celia and Rosalind just seemed to have such joy in each other; when they teased, it was fun.
If you're in the area, I highly recommend AYLI. They're also doing The Winter's Tale and another play I don't know (Imbroglio). I'm hoping to go to another of their plays before the season ends.
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