"As You Like It" by Ten Thousand Things at Open Book

To open their 2026-2027 season, Ten Thousand Thing is heading to the forest. Specifically, the Forest of Arden, the setting of the Shakespearean romcom As You Like It. But unlike when I saw this play at the Tony-winning American Players Theatre a month ago, where we were literally in the middle of a forest in Wisconsin, this time the forest requires imagination. But no worries, no theater I know harness the power of collective imagination better than TTT. Because no matter where this company performs - in a prison, a homeless shelter, a community center, or an event space above a book store - they transport the audience to the forest. All we have to do is believe, and go on the journey with them. Which is very easy to do with this dreamy seven-person cast (that feels like more), one-woman band, sparse but effective design, and intimate in-the-round staging. The paid public performances of As You Like It continue at four different locations, two in Minneapolis and two in St. Paul, through November 8.

American Players Theatre 2026

As my 4th visit to American Players Theatre approached (with my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers - Minnesota Theater Love and Ernest Goes to the Theatre), I anxiously checked the weather multiple times a day. Half of our six scheduled shows were outdoors, and it was supposed to be the rainiest weekend of the summer. But weather can change, and APT doesn't cancel for mere rain; it has to be heavy rain or storms. It ended up working out beautifully, as things sometimes do. Both of our Friday shows went on as scheduled, with just some passing rain, and only the Saturday matinee was cancelled due to storms, which was better than I hoped. That's the risk you take when you do theater outdoors, but the benefits far outweigh the risks of inclement weather. Because when the elements of Nature interact with the play, be they blaring sunshine or steady rain or a sky full of stars, it's magic. I learned this year that watching Shakespeare in the rain is a magical experience; yes it's cold and damp, but everyone is cold and damp together - the actors with their wet hair sticking to their faces and their costumes dotted with rain, the audience draped in ponchos and clutching hot chocolate from concessions. We're all in it together no matter what happens, participating in this experience of collective imagination that we call theater. This is how they did it back in Shakespeare's time, which maybe is why so many of his plays reference Nature directly or indirectly (both rained-on shows had lines about rain, which we all laughed at together). You can still experience the magic this year for the next few weeks, or start making your plans for the best theater vacay in the Midwest in 2027; the season opens in June, with the 2027 lineup of plays to be announced later this fall.

2023 Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona

I just returned from a whirlwind 28 hours in Winona attending the Great River Shakespeare Festival (GRSF) for the 5th time. It's become a summer tradition for me and some of my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), and one that I hope will never end. Seeing multiple plays in rep performed by a company of talented actors from around the country in one weekend, in a location away from your home and daily life, allows for a unique and immersive theater experience, and one that's unique in the state of Minnesota. Winona is such a lovely town with plenty of other activities that we vowed to stay longer next year so we could enjoy the many restaurants and shops (which are often closed on Sunday), outdoor activities, museums, and more. GRSF is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and for more on the history, present, and future of the festival listen to the 4th episode of TCTB's new podcast "Twin Cities Theater Chat," in which we interview Artistic Director Doug Scholz-Carlson and Co-Associate Artistic Director Melissa Maxwell (available here or wherever you listen to podcasts). GRSF runs through the end of July, so you still have time to plan a mini-vacay and enjoy all that the festival, and the city of Winona, has to offer.

Zephyr Theatre's ShakesFaire - "Shakespeare LOL" and "As You Like It"

I'm interrupting this Fringe coverage to bring you news of FREE Shakespeare in the Park! Stillwater's Zephyr Theatre is presenting three shows as part of their annual Shakespeare festival, held in lovely Valley View Park just outside of Stillwater. I saw two of the three shows last night, the first of only five performances this weekend only. It's a gorgeous location with a natural and partly shaded slope for audience viewing (bring a chair or blanket), and really fantastic performances of these two great shows. Read on for more about Shakespeare LOL and As You Like It, then make plans to head out to the park this weekend to enjoy some great outdoor theater, which also includes a puppet show by Open Eye Theatre. Click here for details, but reservations are not required (although donations are accepted).

"As You Like It" at the Guthrie Theater

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's most fun romantic comedies because of the inclusion of music (song lyrics written into the script) and his usual happy ending that includes not just one, but four blissfully wedded couples. I first saw this play at the Guthrie in 2005 (near the end of my 2nd of 16 and counting seasons as a subscriber), when they used a trippy hippie '60s theme. Their new production is not that; the wardrobe is modern, and the songs are more folk/Americana (original music by Broken Chord). But it's still super fun, charming, with a fantastically talented and diverse cast, and just an all around pleasant evening.

"As You Like It" by Classical Actors Ensemble at the Crane Theater

Classical Actors Ensemble is "dedicated to engaging audiences by capturing the spirit in which the plays of the English Renaissance were originally performed - with immediacy, passion, and as popular entertainment." This is something they do beautifully with their summer Shakespeare in the park; I was charmed by their fun and playful Two Gents and Midsummer in recent years, and look forward to The Comedy of Errors this summer. This is my first time seeing CAE indoors, and I'm happy to report that they retain their playful spirit in a more traditional theater setting (although with the crazy warm February weather we're having, they might as well do it outdoors!).

"As You Like It" by The Acting Company at the Guthrie Studio Theater

The Acting Company has been touring the country for 40 years, bringing Shakespeare and other classic works of theater to cities from Decorah Iowa to NYC. The Acting Company has close ties to the Guthrie Theater, where it stops every January, and features many U of M/Guthrie BFA graduates. This year they're presenting As You Like It (which I saw just last year in a delightful interpretation by Ten Thousand Things). In case you get Shakespeare's comedies confused like I do, with their similar plots of banishment, disguises, and mistaken identities, let me remind you that As You Like It is the one where Rosalind is the daughter of a banished Duke, who escapes into the forest disguised as a man, where she convinces young Orlando to woo her as if she were Rosalind. And everyone lives happily ever after. The talented young cast and the delightful staging bring this amusing story to life.

Highlights of the show include:

Joseph Midyett and Elizabeth Stahlmann
as Orlando and Rosalind 

• Joseph Midyett and Elizabeth Stahlmann are convincing and charismatic as the young lovers Orlando and Rosalind, as is Megan Bartle as Rosalind's devoted cousin Celia.
• I'm beginning to think this might be my favorite Shakespeare comedy, mostly because of the inclusion of music, which is interpreted differently in each production I've seen. Here, we are treated to the lovely voice of Noah Putterman as the lord's musician Amiens.
• A couple of diverse performances, both equally enthusiastic and charming, are turned in by Michael McDonald as a refined courtier and a poor shepherd hopelessly in love.

Chris Thorn as Jaques with masked creatures of the forest

• As the melancholy forest dweller Jaques, Chris Thorn (in long hair and a beard that makes him look like he's from the cast of Argo) very effectively delivers one of the most famous monologues in Shakespeare, the one that begins with "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players," and then goes on to list the seven stages of man.
• I'm not sure what time period the costumes are supposed to be from, but they are interesting to look at. Celia's dress looks vaguely 40s-ish (and her adorable forest attire more like a Swiss miss), while Rosalind's wardrobe has a flapper-esque quality, and the men dressed in suits from sometime in the first half of the 19th century.
• Walking into the intimate studio theater, the stage is empty except for three standing phonographs and trees off to either side. At intermission, the stage is transformed into a magical forest. The phonographs are cleverly used to create sound effects and music, and the masks worn to represent animals in the forest are perfectly delightful.

I think it's safe to say that after 40 years, with such alumni as Rainn Wilson and Kevin Kline, not to mention chairperson of the advisory board Angela Landsbury, The Acting Company is an institution of the American theater. They're at the Guthrie through February 3, and then will continue to tour the country with As You Like It and Of Mice and Men (which I wish they were doing here as well) through spring. This is my third year seeing them (see last year's Julius Caesar, and 2011's Romeo and Juliet and A Comedy of Errors), and they never disappoint.  Check them out at the Guthrie, and watch this video about the 40th anniversary of The Acting Company:

"As You Like It" by Ten Thousand Things at Open Book

I know I gush a lot on this blog, but there's a lot to gush about when you're talking about theater in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  No more so than when you're talking about Ten Thousand Things, the theater company that takes their work out into the community, to people who don't normally have the opportunity to see theater (prisons, homeless shelters, community centers, libraries, etc.).  If you're a theater fan who lives in the Twin Cities and you've never seen a TTT show, you really must go as soon as possible.  I guarantee you're in for a theater experience unlike any you've ever known.  With full lights, minimal sets and costumes, a small intimate space, and nothing but a few feet of air between you and the actors, it's as raw, immediate, authentic, and thrilling as I've ever known theater to be.  It's a strange thing; you're more aware that this is make-believe because you can see everything that's going on with no illusions, so you know it's not real.  But in a way, that makes it even more magical when you're completely transported into a new world purely through the power of collective imagination.  Mere words cannot adequately describe it - you have to experience it yourself.

Ten Thousand Things' current show is the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It (paid performances continue weekends at Open Book through March 11, as well as a number of free performances throughout the area).  I saw this play several years ago at the Guthrie, but I don't remember a whole lot about it other than the trippy 60s vibe of that production and the inclusion of music (always a plus in my book).  But it wasn't hard to get into the story and the language in the hands of TTT.   As You Like It is your typical Shakespearean romantic comedy, full of disguises and mistaken identities and banishments and declarations of love and hate, with everyone appropriately coupled off and happy at the end.  But the journey to get there is pure delight.

Ten Thousand Things always attracts the best theater artists in the deep pool of talent that is the Twin Cities theater community, and this six-person cast is no exception:

• Maggie Chestovich is the slacker in the group - she only plays one character.  ;)  But in her defense Rosalind is more or less the main character, and she also dons the clothes of a man through much of the play so as to travel more safely in the forest after her banishment from the court.  I've seen Maggie several times in TTT productions, and she's always fully present and real in her portrayal.  
• The busy and talented Randy Reyes is Orlando, hopelessly in love with Rosalind and also banished from court by his greedy jealous brother.  Randy also plays an old shepherd, which gives him the opportunity to ham it up in funny glasses and a hat.  He's always entertaining in everything he does, and he's particularly good at engaging the audience here.
• Aimee Bryant (who just recently left the role of Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray at the Chan) is Rosalind's cousin/friend, and lucky for us, she also takes on the role of Amiens, which means she gets to sing and play a ukulele (with only two strings!).  It's a joy to sit around the pretend campfire and listen to her sing, along with this guy...
• As I've said before, I don't think there's anything Bradley Greenwald can't do - comedy, drama, and that voice!  Whether singing or speaking, silly or serious, I love to listen to him.  He plays a pompous wrestler, the cruel duke who banished his brother as well as the kinder banished duke, a lowly shepherd, and a "country wench" who hilariously delivers a calf.
• Pearce Bunting (the only member of the cast I hadn't seen before) does a wonderful job creating three vastly different characters who bear little resemblance to each other.  He's the entitled elder brother of Orlando, a smart-talking clown who falls for the aforementioned country wench, and a friend of the banished duke mired in thoughtful and hopeless melancholy.  Each one is a distinct character.
• Kimberly Richardson's roles are pretty diverse too.  She's a frail old man who is loyal to his master until death, a stuffy and formal court messenger, and a silly country girl, each with a specific physicality that would tell us who she is even without the costume changes (which in some cases are very quick!).
• The sound by Peter Vitale is almost like a seventh actor in the cast.  It's like a soundtrack for a silent movie, accentuating every emotion and movement without distracting from it.

Some TTT plays are more serious, like last year's exquisite Doubt, A Parable.  But with a comedy like this, they can be more relaxed and play a little more.  If unexpected things happen, the audience is in on the joke and goes along for the ride.  Artistic Director Michelle Hensley always introduces the show and tells a little bit about their experiences so far (for more information on that you can read the TTT blog, with commentary by Bradley Greenwald).  She talked about how their audiences have been hungry.  For laughter, for love, and for language.  As You Like It is definitely just what the doctor ordered.