Stage Door News
Stage Door News
For its 24th season of theatre under the stars in communities across Ontario, Driftwood Theatre is proud to present one of Shakespeare’s most enduring comedies, renamed.
To announce the season, Driftwood unveils the 2018 Bard’s Bus Tour season image, once again crafted by award-winning illustrator Ramon Perez (Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand).
Mr. Perez imagines an iconic Shakespeare heroine among a wooded clearing where denizens of the forest gather, as Driftwood audiences do, to experience the magic of live theatre in open spaces.
Boldly taking on the viewer, a disguised woman is surrounded by love notes and poems strewn throughout the forest. The woman’s clothing is evocative of the early 20th century.
Shakespeare stole his source material for As You Like It from Thomas Lodge’s 16th century novel, titled Rosalynde. It is only fitting that in 2018 we should give that title back to her. It’s about time there was a play by Shakespeare named after woman.
And so, this summer Driftwood Theatre is thrilled to be touring to 27 parks across Ontario with William Shakespeare’s – renamed – Rosalynde (or, As You Like It). July 13 – August 12, 2018.
Joining Driftwood in the title role is Ellie Moon, fresh off a stellar fall season as creator and performer of Crow’s Theatre/Nightwood Theatre production of Asking For It.
She is joined on her journey into the Forest of Arden (circa Canada, 1918) by an incredible company including Geoffrey Armour (The Taming of the Shrew, Driftwood; Stones in his Pockets, Festival Players) as the clown Touchstone, Caroline Gillis (Alice Munro Stories, Belfry Theatre; Liv Stein, Canadian Stage; Blood Wedding, Soulpepper) as a the melancholy Jacques (here portrayed as a woman), Ximena Huizi (Gray, Theatre Inamorata; Vitals, Outside the March) as Rosalynde’s cousin Celia, Megan Miles (Titus Andronicus, Hart House; co-founder Shakey-Shake and Friends) as shepherdesses Phebe/Audrey, Ngabo Nabea (Twisted, b current/Factory Theatre; The Number’s Game, Storefront) as Rosalynde’s lover Orlando, James Dallas Smith (Ipperwash, Native Earth/Blyth Festival; King Lear, The Time of Your Life, Soulpepper) as Orlando’s conniving brother Oliver and the shepherd Silvius, and Eric Woolfe (The Harrowing of Brimstone McReedy, Eldritch Theatre; The Lion King, Mirvish/Disney) as the warring Dukes Frederick & Senior, and the shepherd Corin.
Rosalynde tells the story of a young woman who flees from her home in the city, setting out on a journey of identity, self-discovery and love, learning that to carve your own path, sometimes you need to break the rules.
Looking back 100 years to Canada in 1918, Rosalynde (or, As You Like It) explores the right to be who we are, to love whom we choose and to do what we please in a time when conflict was shaping our country, the government was regulating recreational substances, and women were fighting for equality. Not at all like today, eh?
Rosalynde (or, As You Like It). On tour to 27 Ontario communities July 13 – August 12, 2018.
The full Bard’s Bus Tour and accompanying Summer Shakespearience Festival schedules will be announced on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23.
Illustration: Rosalynde. ©2018 Ramon Perez.
2018-03-12
Toronto: Driftwood Theatre's 2018 Bard on the Bus Tour will be "Rosalynde" (aka "As You Like It")