As You Like It continues this weekend…

AS YOU LIKE IT continues this weekend (August 16-18) at Mad Violets Wine Company, located at 17425 NE Hillside Drive, Newberg, OR 97132, near Vidon Vineyard and J. Christopher. Food for sale will be provided by Jessie’s Hand Pie Shoppe.

Please make a tax-deductible donation to help us continue presenting free performances in the Willamette Valley. Donations can be matched to the Oregon Cultural Trust for a tax credit. Donate by clicking here. Willamette Shakespeare and Portland Actors Ensemble are tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations.

As the 2018 audiences can tell you, the plays in the vineyards are not necessarily done in the traditional manner. This year’s production of As You Like It has as PAE Board Chair Paul Susi said, “an earnest and lovely cast” that has collective charisma and music that will make for a satisfying performance experience for the audience. The music, the lightheartedness, and the winning spirit of a sweet and raucous play will win through.

There is the intentional gender-switching. The text as written is meant to be goofy and earthy and frankly bawdy. In the Audrey/Touchstone scene there are innuendos, which are commonplace in Shakespeare, and a kiss, but expect the unexpected.

The intention in the genderswitching is to highlight how the love and the silliness that our characters experience is universal and relatable to folks of all sexualities and gender identities. To quote a line from the play, “We find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” 

It is helpful to know that the first woman to appear in a Shakespeare play did so in 1660 – 44 years after Shakespeare’s death. It’s well known that professional theatre troupes in Renaissance England included male actors only, so that the roles of, for instance, Juliet, Rosalind, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra were first played by boys.

Now we must give our vineyard hosts the huge round of thanks they so much deserve. This 2019 production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare opened at Stoller Family Estate on Friday, August 2nd at 7 pm. This is Willamette Shakespeare’s 11th season, and each season has opened at the Stoller venue. This is also the 50th season for Portland Actors Ensemble (PAE). The production moved to Montinore Estates in Forest Grove with performances on Friday, August 9th, Saturday, August 10th, and Sunday, August 11th. This Friday, August 16th, the production will open at a new venue in Newberg. Mad Violets Wine Company will host on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 16th, 17th, and 18th. Performances begin at 7 pm on Friday and Saturday, and at 6 pm on Sunday.

Join us in the pastoral fields this summer as we present a new twist on, coincidentally, the very first production of Portland Actors Ensemble 50 years ago, and the very first production of Willamette Shakespeare 11 years ago.

One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, As You Like It is a hilarious play about the complexities of life and love. Director Sara Fay Goldman takes the Shakespearean classic and adds to its gender-bending plot a further reflection on gender roles, identity, and love.

Last year’s performances of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (revised) at Stoller Family Estate set new attendance and donation records. Willamette Shakespeare and Portland Actors Ensemble are grateful for your support and for the consistent support of Stoller Family Estate.

A very special thank you to Ronni Lacroute, who supports so much of the arts here in the valley and in Portland. Without her support over the past years, it is doubtful, unlikely even, that Willamette Shakespeare would be here today helping to provide free theatre to all of us.

Sara Fay Goldman directs As You Like It. Under Sara’s direction the audience is in for a treat. The setting may seem familiar. Fluidity and shifts in dress and gender is a theme. Watch for mimicry of the traditional theatrical forms of Shakespeare’s day, one of Shakespeare’s themes. There might be a feminist twist. See if you can identify the music and spot the visual puns. Expect the unexpected.

As Sara said, this production should be a good time and leave us with a sense of hope for building compassionate, inclusive communities. The play is all about love, after all.

 Special highlights

Rusty Tennant (Touchstone + Jacques) 

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Kate Faye Cummings (Olive) 

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Paul Bright (Duke Senior/Charles/William) 

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Jacquelle Cherise Davis (Phebe / HYMEN) 

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Jacob Beaver (Silvius / HYMEN)

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Mishelle Apalategui (Duke Frederique / Corin) 

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Evan Tait (Le Beau / Audrey) 

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Kelsea Ashenbrenner (Celia)

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 Alex Blesi (Orlando) 

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Catherine “Cat” Louise Miller (Rosalind) 

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 Molly Shevaun Reed (Stage Manager/PM) 

Paul Susi is an educator, activist, arts administrator, and a performing artist. Paul has worked as a youth counselor and an educator at several Portland nonprofit organizations serving homeless, recovering, post-incarcerated, and adjudicated populations. He has appeared onstage with Boom Arts, Profile Theater, Shaking the Tree, Push Leg, Anon It Moves, String House Productions, Action/Adventure Theater, Los Portenos, Cerimon House, Northwest Children’s Theater, Working Theatre Collective, Contagious Theater, defunkt, Milagro Teatro, Hand2Mouth Theatre, and The Forgery. Paul has appeared regionally and internationally with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Vermont Stage Company, Island Stage Left, and Poland’s Stacja Szamocin. He has worked on several projects supported by the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Most recently, Paul co-founded The Color of Now, a live discussion series focusing on race and privilege in Portland, and served as Lead Shelter Host and shift supervisor for the innovative Peace Shelter, supervising 4 staff and 100 self-identified men experiencing homelessness in downtown Portland.

Paul’s vision for and his respect of the history of this company will see PAE well into its 50th season, and beyond.  Paul, who is an accomplished artist and vital voice for the arts in the Portland community, was recently recognized for his extensive contributions by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Please click the link below for a glimpse of Paul’s vision and some of the other theater honorees:

In addition to his artistic contributions, Paul has many other passions and projects that make his voice vital in our community and an excellent match for PAE. Paul is a tireless advocate for the houseless and the marginalized through his involvement in the Transition Project and Street Books. His leadership in the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project invites us to engage in deeper conversations as community members about important topics such as education, home, and diversity.

In Paul’s own words: