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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2017)
The kids, groceries, potting soil… T H E AT E R BY WILL KENNEDY Carry it all. Bike riding is a great way to be active during your day. Replace a car. Yuba, Xtracycle, Surly Big Dummy. Child seats, cargo bags, electric assist motors. Facebook/arrivingbybike • www.abb.bike 2705 Willamette St • 541.484.5410 Mon.–Fri. 11–7, Sat. 10–6, Sun. 12–5 88 th SEASON! The Very Little Theatre presents EVERGREEN NUTRITION 15-20% OFF* CBD OIL PRODUCTS IN AUGUST Shakespeare's glorious romantic comedy! Studies show that CBD oil can be helpful for anxiety & stress. Directed by Darlene Rhoden The most affordable CBD on the market, CV Sciences’ CBD oil is non-psychoactive. Aug. 4-6, 10-13, 17-19 • Chemical-free CO2 Extracted • Non-GMO • Gluten free 7:30 pm curtain; 2 pm Sundays Tix: $19; $15 Seniors & Students $15 for everyone on Thursdays! Box office open 2-6 pm Wed.-Sat., 2350 Hilyard St. Tickets on-line at TheVLT.com SEVERAL NEW OPTIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE 541-344-7751 *15% OFF CV SCIENCES & 20% OFF MB SCALAR CBD 1653 Willamette Street M-F 9-6 • Sat 10-5 • Sun 11-5 FREE OFF-STREET PARKING 541-485-5100 www.evergreennutrition.com Cottage Theatre presents: Comical Russian tales infused with American wit 2017 August 11—27 By Neil Simon and Anton Chekhov Directed by Kory Weimer $25 Adult, $15 Youth (6-18) 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove • www.cottagetheatre.org • 541-942-8001 ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE Hipsters meets hippies in VLT’s As You Like It T he trend in Shakespeare performance is to toss off all the “adieus” and “but softs” with the casual tone of a texting teenager. I, for one, love this style. Breaking down the artifice deepens Will’s poetry and warms up his philoso- phy. And Very Little Theatre’s charming production of Shakespearean rom- com As You Like It is very much in this fashion. Director Darlene Rhoden reimagines the play in a fanciful place somewhere be- tween now and the 1920s, with a mix of hipster and hippie style (representing the high court versus the forest of Arden) similar to an average Saturday night at Sam Bond’s Garage. There’s Ninkasi beer bottles and funny bits with a selfie stick, and the music of Northwest indie-rock band Modest Mouse plays while the audience finds their seats. The story is mostly a bunch of Shakespeare stuff, so here’s the gist: Banishment separates Rosalind (Jennifer Appleby) and Orlando (Joel Ibanez) just as they fall in love — bummer! So, Rosalind decides to dress up like a boy, because why not, and escapes to the forest of Arden with her faithful cousin Celia. Conveniently, Orlando, in conflict with his brother, also heads to Arden, where he and Rosalind (dressed as a boy) run into each other and, well, it all works out in the end. But Shakespeare, for me, is very rarely about the plot. I love Shakespeare for his ideas and insight into human nature, and As You Like It examines desire, free will, gender roles (even alluding to non-binary gender identity), the therapeutic effect of nature and the peculiarly delicious insanity of falling in love. Orlando has been advertising his love for Rosalind with clumsy verse tacked to trees all over Arden, a little like Facebook updates from a lovesick teenager. Feisty and complex Rosalind is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved female characters, and Appleby is magnetic, if occasionally hurried. As Orlando, Ibanez’ voice is a beautiful instrument for Shakespeare. And I wanted more of Blake Beardsley in the relatively small role of Le Beau. I’m not sure replacing the show’s traditional music with several contemporary music interludes (ranging from Tears for Fears to The Mamas & The Papas) added much to the show. I’ve seen several professional Shakespeare productions in which this idea works quite well, but I couldn’t quite suss out how Rhoden felt these par- ticular pop tunes deepened Shakespeare’s content. While fun diversions, in the end the songs broke the rhythm. Another moment that broke the rhythm of the show also came at one of its best: a physical gag plunked in the middle of “Melancholy” Jaques’ famous “All the world’s a stage” monologue. Nevertheless, Jaques (EW cartoonist Dan Pegoda) delivers the rest of the speech with such a gripping naturalism that you can imagine Shakespeare himself, who wrote As You Like It relatively late in his life, delivering the lines of a melancholy old romantic lamenting that, in the end — after all the love, laughter and loss in life — we all wind up “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” It’s in these moments that Rhoden, and her entire cast, are most successful and deeply moving. As You Like It runs through Aug. 19 at Very Little Theatre, $15-$18, tickets at TheVLT.com. 30 A ugust 10, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
