As You Like It

Summer 2017

Four Weddings and a Forest

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Matt Pfeiffer

JULY 20 – AUGUST 6 | MAIN STAGE

All the world’s a stage in one of Shakespeare’s most popular and rollicking comedies. Following some courtly mishaps, Rosalind, her cousin Celia, and the clown Touchstone escape to the Forest of Arden and revel in nature and the seemingly simple life. As love notes grow on trees and romance rules the land, wit and wrestling, poetry and music create a rare theatrical enchantment. Ages 8+

Extras

Prologues: join us for insights into the play in an informal setting. Free. Held in the theatre 45 minutes prior to curtain.
Opening night, Saturday, July 22nd. Join the PSF actors and staff for a friendly post-show champagne toast.
Meet the actors for an informal talk-back after the show Thursday, July 27th.
Savoring Shakespeare: specialty dining themed to the play with behind-the-scenes insights Saturday, July 29, 5:00pm and Sunday, July 30, 11:00am (in combination with Troilus and Cressida).
As You Like It and The Three Musketeers will play in repertory with the same cast. Please order early for the best seating options.

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DC Metro Arts

“Filled with music, wit, and a rambunctious spirit. It’s a play about love that radiates love – and it’s a production that’s very easy to love”

“Schulenberg drives this production. Her Rosalind blends elegance, warmth, and a fine command of the language”

Philadelphia Inquirer

“Deft contemporary touches, clever comic business, live music, and an elegant production design”

“Seeing it is an unexpectedly moving experience”

Lehigh Valley Press

“A splendid production”

“One of the best PSF Shakespeare productions ever”

“Marnie Schulenburg, gracious as Rosalind, and then, disguised as Ganymede, in young mans’s attire, creates a charming, cap-wearing Chaplinesque character”

“As Jaques, Peakes commands the stage, especially in the “Seven Ages Of Man” speech. I don’t recall being so moved to tears when I encountered this famous scene in other productions. Peakes’ rendering is exquisite and sublime. Sheer brilliance”

“Joyful, tuneful and glorious”

WHYY/NewsWorks

“Never, until opening night at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival on Saturday, have I seen “As You Like It” it in a version so clear I thought I was watching it for the first time”

“Great cast”

“There’s melancholy , but also great warmth and good spirit and an overall feeling that we’re part of the conversations.”

“Esau Pritchett is a commanding presence as the banished duke”

Broad Street Review

“Transcendent”

“I thought, ‘This is the epitome of great Shakespeare.’”

“I’ve seen many stagings of As You Like It and never tire of its charms, but I would not have predicted I would feel so moved, enlightened, and fulfilled after dozens of enjoyable productions over decades of playgoing”

Features & Press Releases

As You Like It — Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy opens at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tina Slak, 610.282.WILL [9455] July 17, 2017, Tina.Slak@pashakespeare.org Center Valley, PA— Love notes grow on trees as wit, wrestling, poetry and music create a rare theatrical enchantment in William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, As You Like It on the Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of DeSales […]

IMAGINE SHAKESPEARE’S JOURNEY HOME TO THE FOREST OF ARDEN, IF YOU LIKE

By Heather Helinsky, dramaturg In 1599, the year historians believe that As You Like It was written, William Shakespeare was already a busy, successful poet of the theatre. By then, he had possibly seventeen or nineteen plays already rotating in the repertory of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. It was the same summer that the Globe Theatre was […]

PLOT SYNOPSIS

Sir Rowland de Boys has died, leaving behind three sons. Oliver, the eldest, hates his youngest brother Orlando. Oliver learns that Orlando intends to fight the neighboring Duke Fredrick’s wrestler, Charles. Oliver urges Charles to show no restraint in the match. Duke Senior has been banished by his brother, Duke Frederick. Duke Frederick’s daughter Celia […]