All the world’s a stage, and the players have been cast.
More than 70 students auditioned for this spring’s Shakespeare in the Arb production of “As You Like It,” necessitating callbacks for the first time in two years, sophomore co-director Phoebe Kalthoff said.
The Shakespeare in the Arb club stages a Shakespeare play in the Slayton Arboretum each spring, said junior Elizabeth Whalen, the other co-director.
Whalen said it was hard to turn down so many of those who auditioned.
“We tried to get a lot of people who hadn’t been able to do it before involved, though our first criterion was, of course, just the quality of the audition,” she said. “We’re really humbled by the caliber of the actors we’re getting to work with.”
Many of the actors said they are very excited about working with the rest of the cast.
Junior Meredith Caton will play the lead, Rosalind. Caton submitted video auditions from Paris, where she has been studying abroad this semester. She said she heard about the production from Whalen, as well as from campus-wide emails.
Caton played Rosalind in an Annapolis Shakespeare Company production of “As You Like It” three years ago. She said she looks forward to returning to the role with greater maturity.
Rosalind spends much of the play disguised as a man after being banished from court by her usurper uncle. Caton said Rosalind finds the control the disguise gives her exciting but uncomfortable. Rosalind uses her guise to help other characters mature.
Early in the play, Rosalind falls in love with Orlando, a nobleman oppressed by his cruel older brother, Oliver. Oliver willfully neglects to train Orlando in the manners befitting a gentleman.
Senior Whittaker Dunn, who plays Orlando, said Orlando feels great discomfort about this lack of training, but his excellent personal character outweighs his lack of formal manners.
Phebe, a shepherdess played by freshman Dani Morey, lacks manners. She cruelly rejects the affections of the shepherd Silvius, though she marries him after manipulation by the disguised Rosalind.
“I honestly feel bad for Silvius,” Morey said, “I hadn’t met the actor who plays him beforehand, so I was like ‘Hi, I’m Dani,’ and then I just started yelling at him.”
Sophomore Kendall Karpack plays Celia, Rosalind’s cousin and best friend, who joins her in her banishment.
“She’s very loyal,” Karpack said. “I think that’s her biggest quality, and it’s definitely a quality I admire a lot.”
Karpack said she was excited about stepping into a new acting role for the first time since high school.
“Every time I play a part, I learn something new,” she said. “Every character has something she can teach you.”
This production marks both Kalthoff and Whalen’s directorial debuts. They have both acted in a Shakespeare in the Arb production, Whalen in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Kalthoff in “The Tempest.”
“We’ve been best friends since we were babies,” Whalen said, “so we channel pretty well.”
“Which is really helpful for directing,” Kalthoff added.
She said their interpretations of the play were very similar. They both stressed their desire to have the production reflect a faithful reading of the play.
“Most of all what Shakespeare wants is thoughtful readers who care about the truth of things,” Whalen said, “so if we can bring that kind of authenticity to it, then we’ll be happy.”
