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It is always difficult when your boss is closely watching your performance, you may be working in a factory or a for a recruitment software firm, but it all sucks. Everything has to be spot on. All the deliverables have to be made as accurately as possible. Think then of the pressure if your boss is two times Oscar winner Kevin Spacey. The employees nailed it.
As You Like It is not one of Shakespeare’s more acclaimed plays, perhaps written as more of a money spinner and crowd pleaser. If so, he certainly pleased the audience at The Old Vic during the matinee on Wednesday.
While England finally ensured themselves of a place in the knock-out rounds with a 1-0 win over Slovenia in the World Cup, the Bridge Project, with its ensemble of British and American actors, delighted the audience and press with a captivating performance.
Of note was Juliet Rylance as Rosalind. Her husky voice perfectly suited the role of the cross dressing Duke’s daughter and her sense of comic timing provoked a lot of laughter from the onlookers.
A quick-fire delivery brought Thomas Sadoski much applause as the fool Touchstone. His New York delivery may have been a touch too quick for this side of the Atlantic and yet he made the role his own,
Stephen Dillane played the melancholic Jaques and while his voice was quiet on occasion, all was forgiven by the way he channeled Bob Dylan into his role. Dillane was more wit, less twit in reaching for his laughs.
The rest of the cast got it right, too. One of the delightful aspects of Shakespeare’s plays is that he invested so much character into the bit parts. It is not just the major characters that hold the attention or receive applause. Alvin Epstein countered the comedic tone of the play with the role of Albert the servant, bringing a quieter, more reflective mood during Albert’s death.
This is the second season of the Bridge Project. Last year saw the company tour seven cities around the world with The Winter’s Tale and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. This year, their double bill consists of As You Like It and The Tempest, all under the eye of director Sam Mendes of American Beauty fame.
Shakespeare’s plays sometimes get dismissed as too difficult to follow, especially by students. That is not the case with As You Like it. It is a bright play full of wit, love and laughter that audiences are sure to enjoy.
It is a simple production done very well. The basic sets of building and forest work very well with the lighting and Stephen Bentley-Klein’s music direction to create a delightful theatre experience that held Wednesday’s audience captivated for over three hours.
And the boss seemed to like it, too.
