The Theater at Monmouth’s 2014 production of the Bard’s comedy of country courting and cross-dressing opened an amazing season of theater, dubbed “the British Invasion” for the number of British plays we produced. AYLI was a gem, filled with most excellent actors and high production values, if I do say so myself. For my design I was directed to keep around the early part of the century, ’20’s to ’40’s. I decided to emphasize the difference between the city and the forest by using more stripped-down piano pieces for the city and more sumptuous orchestrations for the forest. As costumes was already doing something similar, it coordinated well. The director was quite into sound effects, and I built for her a series of “schwings” and “twinkles” (the first signifying lust at first sight, the second true love), that were interjected into appropriate moments. There were also sheep, forest sounds, Hymen’s wand hits, and many other fun things for sound. Here’s a small sampling!
First: Touchstone and Audrey’s first sight schwing. Lust.
Next, ahem…twinkle dust. A simple harp strum. True love.
Next, A transition from I.ii to II.i, that is to say from the Duke’s court to the Forest of Arden. Anything Goes!
Now a few photographs.
Lindsay Tornquist as Celia and Erica Murphy as Rosalind in As You Like It. Photo by Rene Minnis.
Michael Dix Thomas as Orlando squares off with Mark S. Cartier as Duke Frederick in As You Like It. Photo by Rene Minnis.
Will Harrell as Jaques in As You Like It.
Denise Cormier as Audrey and Graham Emmons as Touchstone in As You Like It. Photo by Rene Minnis.
A play by William Shakespeare
Directed by Catherine Weidner
Set Designer: Dan Bilodeau
Costume Designer: Jonna Klaiber
Lighting Designer: Cecilia Durbin
Fight Director: Paul Dennhardt
Stage Managers: Jeff Meyers, Melissa A. Nathan