Indecorous Theatre presents Shakespeare’s As You Like It

From the court to the forest

The absolute highlight of Emily Parker and Amanda Charlie Clark’s production is how beautifully it utilizes the Schuylkill Center’s shifting topography as a literal translation of the text. The play begins in the manicured entrance of the visitor center. Seated around a traditional amphitheater, the audience is grounded in the rigid, structured world of the royal court. As we move across a trimmed field for a wrestling match between Orlando (August Hakvaag) and Charles (Rafael Schneider), complete with Renaissance Faire-style "huzzahs" and divided audience cheering, the vibe remains appropriately courtly.

But the manicured atmosphere shatters the moment Amiens (David Forbes) leads us away from the visitor center and deep into the woods. Singing songs and introducing characters along the path, Forbes guides the audience into a wild, ethereal, almost prelapsarian Forest of Arden. The natural transition afforded by the Schuylkill Center is positively magical. By the time the play ends, walking out of the forest alongside the twinkling of real fireflies feels like an absolute embarrassment of riches.

Fluid identities

As You Like It is already a play deeply concerned with the fluidity of identity. Rosalind (Caren Bermudez) is a woman pretending to be a man who occasionally pretends to be a woman, and this production leans into that inherent queerness. By casting against, within, and across traditional gender roles, the show hums with a vibrant, distinctly queer energy. Bermudez plays Rosalind with a grounded presence. As Rosalind transforms to Ganymede, her male persona in disguise, she finds the transformation liberating as she is able to truly build a partnership with her love, Orlando. For their part, Hakvaag is an able partner, perfecting the lovesick poet desperate for Rosalind.

The cast clearly relishes the comedic, interactive nature of the promenade-style staging. The ad-libbed banter during the woodland transitions, where actors split the difference between contemporary snark and faux-Shakespearean cadence, is a blast. Touchstone (Lo Cuevas), Jaques (Rafael Schneider), and Giavanna Mariano (in her dual roles) all excel at keying up the text for fun and discovery. Even Jaques’s famously stately "All the world's a stage" monologue feels delightfully untethered here.

For what it's worth, many of the actors play dual roles, one situated in the court and one in the forest. Their transitions between the two roles add to the contrast between the two settings. This might be exemplified best by Janet Wasser, who plays both of the Dukes. Duke Frederick of the court is maniacal and controlling, while her Duke Senior is laidback and welcoming.

Meeting the interactive challenge

However, the immersive format does create a double-edged sword. Because the transitional ad-libbing is so lively and engaging, the traditional, static scenes can occasionally feel a bit stale by comparison. Additionally, the majority of the movement happens in the first third of the play, meaning the pacing grows a bit restless toward the end as the physical journey slows down.

Immersive theater often strikes fear into the hearts of introverts, but Indecorous handles audience agency with remarkable grace. Upon arrival, audience members who wish to join the show’s interactions are given faux pearl necklaces. If you want to play a character, recite a poem, or help Orlando with his terrible love letters, you wear the pearls. If you feel anxious, you take them off. It is a brilliant, visible consent mechanic that keeps the interactive elements, which are inherently a bit anxiety-inducing, safely within the bounds of fun.

True woodland theater

At the end of the day, Indecorous Theatre successfully achieves what it set out to do. Its artists take As You Like It out of the parlor and into the dirt, resulting in a messy, queer, and deeply joyful night in the woods.

This is true woodland theater. While there are a few seats reserved for patrons needing accommodations, the majority of the audience stands, sits on benches, or claims space on the (sometimes blanketed) ground. Wear comfortable shoes, and, perhaps most importantly, bring bug spray.

At top: The Schuylkill Center woods stand in for the Forest of Arden at Indecorous Theatre’s ‘As You Like It. (Photo by Emily Parker.)

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