It’s Easy to Sit Through ‘As You Like It’

To borrow a famous phrase from the movie theaters of America, the audience is listening.

It’s not that the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has installed a super-duper sound system. No, the alfresco theater in Topanga has installed new benches with backs, atop the level steps of a cement terrace. This replaces the decaying and lopsided railroad ties that formerly served as the venue’s excruciatingly uncomfortable seating.

Now, without the distractions of interior debates over whether and when to move your legs from one awkward position to another, it’s easier to concentrate on the words being spoken by the actors.

And so “As You Like It,” the season opener, seems especially well-spoken and easy to follow in Ellen Geer’s staging that opened Sunday.

This is in some ways a rerun of a 1991 staging, with the same actresses, Melora Marshall and Susan Angelo, as Rosalind and Celia, respectively. But no wonder--they’re ideal for these roles, and the play itself is a perfect choice for the late Sunday afternoon shows at the Theatricum Botanicum.

With its trees marching up the hillside on the other side of the stage, and dappled sunlight filtering through the canopies overhead, the Theatricum gives a remarkably convincing performance as the Forest of Arden.

Seven of the roles are double cast. At last Sunday’s performance, it was David Anthony Smith, as Jaques, who mesmerized the audience with the big speech about the seven ages of man. Ford Rainey was an affecting Adam, the old servant who personifies the latter ages of man. Sheridan Crist, with curly blond locks, served as a very persuasive Orlando. James Lefave made Touchstone virile as well as witty. Kelly Vincent’s Silvius and Sarah Gossage’s Phebe turned in some expertly staged comedy.

Now, if the Theatricum could only do something about the noise of the occasional helicopter or motorcycle, the experience would be precisely as we like it.

* “As You Like It,” Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Sundays, 4 p.m. Ends Sept. 14. $12-$15. (310) 455-3723. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.