As You Like It opens with Orlando, a passionate, idealistic, young man telling his woes to his faithful family servant Adam.  Oliver, Orlando’s oldest brother controls the family inheritance and refuses to grant Orlando a decent education.  As Orlando rails against Oliver to Adam, Oliver enters the scene and a fight breaks outs between them.  Furious, Oliver sends Orlando and Adam away.  Shortly thereafter, Oliver arranges to rid himself of Orlando by matching him against Charles, the wrestler at the court of Duke Fredrick.  Now the play shifts to Duke Frederick’s abode—a tense place at times.  Fredrick has usurped the position of his elder brother, Duke Senior, banishing him to the Forest of Arden.  Yet, Fredrick has retained Rosalind, the sweet, intelligent daughter of Duke Senior, for the company of Celia, Frederick’s daughter.  The two cousins are closer than Celia is to her father.  When the wrestling match occurs between Orlando and Charles, the girls cheer on Orlando, the underdog.  Much to everyone’s surprise, Orlando wins, and Rosalind and Orlando fall in love at first sight.  Their love has no time to bloom, however, for after the match Duke Fredrick banishes Rosalind from the court and Orlando flees with Adam for his life to the Forest of Arden.  Rosalind heeds the Duke’s warning and takes Celia and Touchstone, the Duke’s court jester to hide, ironically enough, in the Forest of Arden, away from the angry Duke.  To protect themselves as they journey, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy, Ganymede, posing as Aliana’s (alias, Celia) younger brother.  In the Forest, these characters encounter many surprises—the greatest of all occurring when Rosalind (still in disguise) and Orlando finally cross paths.  Rosalind decides to test Orlando’s love for her by not revealing herself at first.  For Rosalind, Orlando, and the other lovers of the forest, Arden becomes a place of transformation, in which they experience the different aspects of love.  It is in the Forest of Arden that the many tangled plots of the story begin to unfold, and finally end happily – exactly as you like it.   Rosalind Orlando Celia Oliver Touchstone Audrey Phebe Silvius Jaques the Melancholy Adam La Belle Corin Duke Senior Duke Fredrick  William Sir Oliver Martext Charles Jaques de Boys Amiens Denise  Lady 1 Lady 2 Carrie Joy Knowlden Thomas Wiley Claire Verschoof Stephen Shipp Casey Wasson Brianna Springer Darcy Sabatino Travis Timmons Brooks Lampe Justin Knepper Donna Ross Corey McLaughlin Eric Papetti Eric Papetti Tim Moughon Jonathon Krull Paul Crocker Paul Crocker Josanna Simpson and Jessica Farris Andrea Longbottom Sarah Scoggins Michaela Willi

Directed by Abigail Hackman & Casey Wasson March 14-16, 2002