As You Like It
We debated presenting two
plays, but because the amphitheatre was available
to us only beginning in August, due to a World Music
Festival which had established itself at Forest
Meadows for the early summer months, we ultimately
decided to offer just one – and Ann was asked to
choose a play she would like to direct. Her selection
was the romantic comedy As You Like It.
The first day
of rehearsal was electric with palpable excitement.
Producing Director and Managing Directors Bob and
Lesley Currier, who had been hired in the Fall of
1989 to produce the fledgling company and raise
the necessary money (a challenging task during the
weeks following the 1989 earthquake), were present
with their one-year old son Jackson. Bob had enlisted
the assistance of a brilliant designer, Jim McKee,
who ended up designing sets and lights and serving
as Technical Director for our first five seasons.
We were thrilled to have
the considerable talents of one of the Bay Area’s
most accomplished Shakespearean actors, Nancy Carlin,
as Rosalind. Nancy was newly pregnant with her first
daughter who, when she was born several months after
the close of As You Like It, was named Celeste
Arden Swain – an acknowledgement of Nancy’s time in
the Forest of Arden.
From the Playbill:
“Shakespeare returns to Marin! …. Marin Shakespeare
Company is dedicated to serving as a resource for
entertainment and education, and to achieving artistic
excellence in the performance of Shakespeare’s plays.
It provides an opportunity
for local theatre artists to train and work with established
professionals…. We are proud to give this community
the special gift of Shakespearean theatre. Shakespeare
is both profound and fun. A family can participate
together in live epic action -- magic, ceremony, swordplay,
stagecraft, comedy, slapstick, battle, witchcraft,
wit – while examining along with the greatest poet
in the English language the intricacies of love and
ambition, joy and confusion, tragedy and wisdom and
the multitude of things that make us human.
Performing under
the tall trees and summer stars at Forest Meadows,
the Marin Shakespeare Company creates a special place
for the Marin community, a place of contemplation
and delight. We hope you will join with us in sharing
the wonder of William Shakespeare.”
(Continued..)
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