As You Like It Reviews
Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
"...Griffin and his set designer, Kevin Depinet, have created an elegant production, romantic without being fussy, that is robustly (and sometimes counter-intuitively) costumed by Mara Blumenfeld. Unlike some other recent shows at this theater — where it has felt like the out-of-town leads were working in wholly different style — this production is populated by Chicago-based actors who all feel part of the same aesthetic realm. This does not feel like a show calculated to make a powerful statement or to effect some self-aware deconstruction. Rather, these Chicagoans craft a clear, kind, unpretentious, accessible and honest spot in the world."
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
"...The overall production is not quite as smooth or predictable as that pendulum, with the first act taking quite a while to find its full momentum. But when it is good it is exceptionally good, even if it tends to drag as Shakespeare gives each of his many characters too much time in the spotlight."
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
"...Gary Griffin's staging of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy delivers screwball whimsy and poetic lyricism in equal measure. Griffin sets the action in an early-19th-century England straight out of Jane Austen. Kate Fry is Rosalind, who escapes her uncle's death threats by dressing as a boy and fleeing to the Forest of Arden; athletic Matt Schwader is Orlando, whose passion for Rosalind drives him to post hilariously insipid love poems on the trees of Arden. She reins in her own romantic feelings until she can measure the depth of his.
Windy City Times- Highly Recommended
"...Kate Fry, who has played these kinds of roles many times before, delivers a trouper's turn as the transvestite Rosalind, but Chaon Cross's Celia emerges the more alert, and thus commanding, damsel. Matt Schwader likewise makes a hunky Orlando—at one point, chinning himself on a spotlight rail—but Phillip James Brannon's Touchstone instills fresh humor into centuries-old quips, interpretation matched for its originality only by Ross Lehman's Jacques, here played more irascible than melancholy. The tone of the production may be uneven, but whoever thought that such excitement and efficiency could spring from simply understanding the words?"
Copley News Service- Highly Recommended
"...It’s a rich brew of characters, led by Orlando and Rosalind with their romantic manipulations. Typically, Orlando comes across as something of a ninny, a likeable doofus but under qualified as a match for the nimble-witted and intelligent Rosalind. One of the chief merits of Gary Griffin’s directing is balancing the two young people on a level romantic playing field. Matt Schwader’s Orlando has the grit and presence to match Kate Fry’s winsome Rosalind. For once the two characters are portrayed as equals--equally silly, equally attractive, equally entertaining, and equally in love."
Centerstage- Highly Recommended
"...In Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s fantastic new production, all this folly makes for terrifically engaging theater. Under Gary Griffin’s direction, an energetic and talented cast creates an “As You Like It” that is self-aware without being cynical and madcap without being manic. As the cross-dressed Rosalind and the smitten Orlando, Kate Fry and Matt Schwader manage the difficult task of mingling total absorption in love and wry self-criticism. Their courtship is delightful to watch; so, too, are the play’s other unfolding love affairs. Even small roles – the rustic William (Nathan Hosner), the foppish courtier Le Beau (Andrew Neiman), and the country minister Martext (Matt DeCaro) – are performed with freshness and originality."
Time Out Chicago- Recommended
"... Griffin’s light touch doesn’t match up with such potentially pensive interpretations. Indeed, almost every element of his production seems too ready to dismiss itself; above all else, the director appears to be most eager to get on to the next scene. If not for the innate appeal of a cast led by the effortlessly charming Fry and Schwader, along with Phillip James Brannon’s almost too contemporary wise fool Touchstone, this by-the-numbers production wouldn’t give us much to like."
ChicagoCritic- Highly Recommended
"...This tender and optimistic comedy is pure fun as it lightly yet effectively plays out the romantic adventures of the younger principals seeking love in a rustic setting. The pace is swift, the laughs abound, and the sparks fly as love surly is in the air lead by the confident and assured Rosalind. Each player questions who they are thus allowing them to find the love they seek. We smile and enjoy in the delights and mischief of the adventure. As a production, Griffin’s As You Like It is a wonderful audience adventure into romantic comedy. This is one of the finest comedies mounted at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in years! It is also a fine way to introduce The Bard to youngsters."
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
"...Separation, conflict, and your true love disguised as a man, what other elements could make for a great romantic comedy? “As You Like It” is one of those rare plays that keeps you wanting more, craving to learn what happens to these individuals as they hunt for the love they seek. Associate Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Gary Griffin, returns for his tenth season to direct this classic piece of literature. Along with Set Designer Kevin Depinet, who created this fascinating forest environment, Mara Blumenfeld returning for Costumes, and Lighting done by Christopher Akerlind."
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
"...How fortunate Chicago theater audiences are to have a world class theater company such as Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. Here we are given all star productions with great sets, costumes, technical work and of course marvelous performances by some of the most skilled of actors. CST also has direction by artists who know the content of the play they are directing and with their talents are able to make a 2 1/2 hour play a unique and understandable experience. For those of you familiar with this glorious theater, you know what I am speaking about. For those of you who will make your first trip, you are in for a production that will become a lasting memory and will have you hungry for more, as CST presents one of Shakespeare’s great comedies, “As You Like It”."
Chicago Theater Beat- Highly Recommended
"...Arden is a forest well worth escaping to and never leaving. The most regretful part of the play is happily never seen, when this enchanted company must return from these miracle-making groves to the workaday world. But that’s just how the audience feels leaving the Courtyard Theatre, reluctantly relinquishing so much romance."