A running routine in Don Nigro's "The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It" is that the famous "All the world's a stage" speech from Shakespeare's play and it's never successfully finished. That pretty well describes this play.
One of the most prolific playwrights in American history, Nigro has published over 200 scripts. When asked to create a stripped-down version of "As You Like It" to be performed by a minimum number of actors, he hit on the idea of a troupe of six amateur actors, led by a curate, who attempt to perform all 30 plus roles in an empty -- or is it nearly empty? -- theater. A sound creative idea with intriguing possibilities, but alas, the enterprise is sick, and the execution falls short of ideal.
I've already pretty well outlined the plot. A group of amateur actors is putting on a performance of Shakespeare's "As You Like It," switching roles as demanded while switching back and forth between the play and "reality." This creates a situation where actors are playing bad actors relating to each other in an empty theater while also playing a dizzying number of characters in a Shakespeare play with various degrees of skill, dropping in and out of character as well as dropping in and out of scene. Yeah, it gets complicated.
They're led by the Curate, which in the Anglican Church is a helper to the pastor of a church, but here is defined as the Latin curatus, keeper of souls. It's enough to know that he's captain of this ruined band. All the twists do present an opportunity for actors to showcase their skills, and set up some good comic possibilities, with perhaps even the inclusion of a poignant comment on what is and is not real.
But alas and phooey, instead of a play within a play, we get half of a play within half of a play, and the sum doesn't quite come to one. The big flaw is the characters within the acting troupe itself. We meet the Curate, Celia, Rosalind, William, Amiens, Audrey and an intriguing Nigro invention called The Clown at the beginning of the show, but darn it, we never do get to know them.
There's some shadow play at the end of the first act that hints at their relationships, but where they come from, how they got there, and where they're going is never revealed. The people in the troupe are ciphers. Since it's not possible to take their characters in "As You Like It" seriously, you're left with nobody to really identify with. What the people in the troupe are trying to achieve and why is never really clear. Like the "All the world's a stage" speech, the plot is never successfully completed, and you never get really caught up in either of the two overlapping stories.
But it's still worth the viewing. Thanks to some strong talent, this play is not truly damned, like an ill-roasted egg, all on one side. Windfall Theatre mines the script for all there is to get. Maureen Kilmarry's direction is tight, and the quick-costumes and props she's devised are wondrous. Charles T. Hanel is a strict but merciful Curate; Thomas Rosenthal is heroic and dashing in all his roles, even the ones that don't require it; and Carol Zippel will charm you with her Chorus, a hippieish character that would be just as comfortable at Woodstock as in the Forest of Arden.
There are moments of genuine comedy that'll get a chuckle, though not a belly laugh. While it wouldn't be my first choice, even with all the flaws in the script I can recommend this as your evening out on a cold winter's night.
"The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It" plays at Village Church Arts at 130 E. Juneau Ave. in Milwaukee through March 4. Call (414) 332-3963 for tickets.
