The Summit Players are back for their second season this summer. The group of Marquette theatre alumni is reprising their six-actor version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at parks around Wisconsin and on Friday, July 22, they debuted their rendition of As You Like It in Milwaukee.
For As You Like It, the weather did not play nicely. Even as the show began with the sun setting over Three Bridges Park, the temperature was in the sweltering mid-eighties. And being outdoors by the Menomonee River made for a lot of bugs. But even with the drawbacks, they still drew a sizeable crowd of people. And by the end of the performance, the number was at least doubled by passersby who had stopped to watch.
It was easy to see what caught their attention. The Summit Players’ mission is to perform accessible, fun Shakespeare in the natural environment of Wisconsin parks. And they certainly live up to their statement.
At the start, the actors identify the various roles they will play and introduce their costumes for each role. The characterizations during the show are heightened by the Players’ stellar acting. Armando Ronconi goes between playing the fool Touchstone and Charles the Wrestler, Molly Edwards plays the lovely Celia and elderly Adam; Ava Thomann plays the two fierce dukes and the petulant Phoebe; and Joe Picchetti is the young and spry Orlando becoming a slow, creaky vicar.
Often you will actually see the actors comically scramble to change costumes.
The relationships between the characters are realistic and engaging and the dialogue is delivered in a colloquial fashion – it’s obvious that these actors form a solid ensemble that knows how to work together. And they aren’t afraid to have fun with Will’s work, although A.J. Magoon seems to have a little more reverence for the Bard. But even Magoon’s slight seriousness is well placed as the melancholy Jacques and the conflicted Oliver.
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And Hannah Klapperich-Mueller helps tie the whole thing together as a daring and fun-loving Rosalind.
For information on when and where their next performances will be, visit www.summitplayerstheatre.com or www.facebook.com/summitplayerstheatre
