Director Chris Rohmann promises the play - full of love and lust, danger and deception, mischief and magic - will be accessible to modern audiences. Shows begin May 2.
Mapleton Hall on Mapleton Avenue in Suffield, Conn., is home to the Suffield Players. The players will produce "As You LIke It" the first three weekends of May. SUFFIELD — The Suffield Players are in the midst of their spring production, Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” one of the playwright’s sunniest comedies.
The play, featuring a large, diverse cast of 19, offers love and lust, danger and deception, and mischief and magic. Shows will be staged weekends through May 19.
“As You Like It” follows a heroine, Rosalind, who is fleeing persecution in her uncle’s court. Trouble ensues when Rosalind and her cousin Celia, dress as males to make their escape. Rosalind, Celia and the court jester, Touchstone, find themselves involved in all sorts of adventures.
“Rosalind falls in love with a boy, but he’s fallen in love with the real Rosalind back at the court,” said Mary Fernandez-Sierra of the Suffield Players. “She starts coaching him on how to fall out of love with Rosalind.”
As the trio move away from the drab court to the festive, colorful forest of Arden, it presents a challenge for set designers Konrad Rogowski and Kelly Seip, Fernandez-Sierra said.
“The scenery has to represent two distinct places – one, a formal, cold court, and the Forest of Arden, which is supposed to be a magical place, full of love and mischief and confusion,” Fernandez-Sierra said. “The show is really a study in contrast.”
Chris Rohmann, an experienced director working with Suffield Players for the first time, is directing the production. Rohmann, of South Hadley, is a great fan of Shakespeare and has directed “As You Like It” once before.
He said he has taken steps to make the play more accessible to a modern audience.
“It’s modern dress, not Elizabethan dress,” he said. “That’s partly because of budgetary reasons, but also because I think it also does speak to our world today.”
Rohmann said the play shows a true transformation.
“Everyone’s hearts are opened when they get to the forest,” he said. “It’s kind of not just a geographic switch (from the court) but a spiritual and emotional change that comes over people.”
Rohmann said he views the play as a kind of cross between “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland.” In the court scenes, the scenery is black, white and grey, and the characters are dressed in similarly-colored clothing, as is the beginning of “The Wizard of Oz.”
Then, the Forest of Arden is like “Alice in Wonderland,” because everything is upside down compared to life in the court.
“It’s modern in the sense that our citified lives do constrain us and constrict us,” he said. “We long for the more open, informal and nourishing and nurturing kind of life represented by the Forest of Arden.”
Rohmann said he expects that many people who come to the show may not be very familiar with Shakespeare and may be intimidated by the language, but they have no reason to worry.
“We’re making a real effort to make the text clear and accessible,” he said. “We’re not speaking in English accents; we’re speaking our lines the way people would say them. We’re making sure people will understand what we’re saying and come along on the story.”
“As You Like It” will be performed May 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18 at 8 p.m., and May 12 at 2 p.m., at Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Tickets are $17 with discounts available to groups, seniors and students. For tickets, call (800) 289-6148 or (860) 668-0837 or go online to suffieldplayers.org.