Shakespeare in the Arb transported more than 200 attendees to the Forest of Arden Thursday night with a performance of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” at Nichols Arboretum. The performance was the opening night of the 22nd installation of Shakespeare in the Arb, a theatrical collaboration between Nichols Arboretum and the University of Michigan’s Residential College that puts on a different Shakespearean play in the Arb every summer. This year’s performance will run every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 30. The three-hour outdoor performance travels throughout the Arb as actors and audience members change locations to reflect various scenes.
Robert Sulewski, Engineering teaching professor and associate director of the show, has been involved in the making of Shakespeare in the Arb since 2006. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Sulewski said the storm damage the Arb experienced at the end of last summer posed a challenge to this year’s show.
“A lot of the trees that you’ve seen cracked and fallen, that all was last year,” Sulewski said. “One of the things we wanted to do is make use of that. So in the scene when the Duke says, ‘is this fruit more free from peril than the court?’ Well, you look around these trees, it’s pretty doggone perilous!”
The Shakespearean comedy “As You Like It” follows the love stories of Rosalind and Orlando and their friends, who end up in the woods away from society for various reasons. Sulewski said despite additional challenges the production crew faced in an outdoor performance space, it was rewarding to overcome them.
“The scene where Jaques gives the famous speech ‘All the world’s a stage’ was originally (somewhere else),” Sulewski said. “But we realized the sun would be glaring in everybody’s eyes, so we had to shift it around at the last minute. But the cast really came through and said, ‘Yeah, we could do this’ and did it, and it was really a good highlight for me to say they made it work.”
Michigan alum Alec Korotney, who acted in the performance, told The Daily in an interview he felt the outdoor stage was both challenging and exciting for actors.
“You have to project because there’s no microphone system, you need everyone from the front to the back to be able to hear you,” Korotney said. “But at the same time, as the play says, ‘All the world’s a stage’. The entire Arb is your stage, and you get to have fun with it more than you would on an (indoor) set.”
LSA junior Isabelle Zeaske has been involved in Shakespeare in the Arb for two years as an apprentice director. In an interview with The Daily, she said she views outdoor theater as a unique and enriching experience.
“I believe that theater outside is just magical in a different kind of way,” Zeaske said. “You see people gain confidence. This show has to be big since we’re on such a big stage. And so it’s always so rewarding to see people kind of settle into that and become more comfortable with their acting skills and with the environment around them.”
Reflecting on her experiences over the years, Zeaske said the personal growth that participants undergo is a highlight for her.
“My favorite thing about this show is how much everybody grows through the process,” Zeaske said. “The constant metaphor is we are like the Arb itself: We grow through the spring, and we are at our best over the summer.”
Daily Staff Reporter Lyra Wilder can be reached at lyrawild@umich.edu.
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