As You Like It

Reviewed by Paul Birchall
ZJU Theatre Group
Through June 19

RECOMMENDED

I am not sure why it comes as a surprise that Zombie Joe’s Underground, the ferociously imaginative theater company on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, should so ably create this sweet, artful candy box of an adaptation of Shakespeare’s frivolous rustic comedy.  Perhaps it is that, to my mind, the company’s “brand” has more to do with the creepy edginess of their productions of Urban Death, or the brooding staging of shows about drunken Russian poets heading down the road to ruin.

But the production of one of the Bard’s silliest romances is a tour de force of energy and charm, easily subverting any attempts to “define” the Zombie Joe style of theater. The show is artfully directed by directed by Denise Devin.

Admittedly, the text has been pruned so that the show runs little more than an hour, and the breakneck pacing sometimes comes at the cost of the delicacy of the writing. But Devin’s staging is often enthralling in its sheer affectionate enthusiasm.

A group of young exiles from the court of evil Duke Frederick (Rick Barreras) take refuge in the mysterious forest of Arden, where Frederick’s brother (Roger K. Weiss) has set up a rustic court of his own.  Handsome nobleman Orlando (Alexander Jon) is taught how to woo his true love Rosalind (Michaela Slezak) by none other than Rosalind (in drag disguise, since she’s in hiding from the Duke herself).   Clowns cavort, capers are turned, and everything ends happily with everyone in love.

The jolly mood is hard to resist — at times you won’t believe you’re watching the show in such a tiny theater, as the energy and sense of detail to the direction could easily suit a much larger venue. What also sets the piece above a workmanlike rendition of the play is the affable crispness of its execution. Entrances and exits proceed like scheduled stops on the new expo line train; at the same time, the line readings demonstrate a remarkable understanding of both meter and subtext.  It doesn’t feel like Shakespeare, but more like a fast paced Saturday morning cartoon — which is, if you have to ask, rather fresh and nice.

Jon’s brash, extremely likable Orlando boasts both a leading man sexiness and a slight undercurrent of wackiness, which amusingly finds the farce in the character’s taking himself so seriously. Slezak’s lovely Rosalind transitions into a remarkably appealing boy, giving the scenes in which Orlando pretends that he’s “practicing” courtship with the young man a sexual ambivalence that feels anything but Tudor age. Strong ensemble work from the tightly focused supporting ensemble makes this unusually clear and playful rendition of the Shakespeare play a thoroughly engaging effort.

Zombie Joe’s Underground, 4840 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.  Fri., 8:30 p.m.; Sat., 7:00 p.m.; through June 19.  (818) 202-4120 or zombiejoes.tix.com. Running time: 70 minutes.