L.A. Puts the Bard to Work on Urban Issues

A cowboy spouting Shakespeare in the heart of downtown Los Angeles is a sight sure to capture the attention of even the most jaded city dweller.

And when you expand the scope to include a stage built to look like the California Gold Rush country in the 1840s and add Western guitar and harmonica music and a bluegrass band, the Bard himself might be hard-pressed to recognize his “As You Like It.” Yet, here it is again, the Shakespeare Festival/L.A.

Food Is Price of Admission

Aside from its being an entertaining outing, the festival, now in its fourth year, exhibits a strong interest in community involvement. Admission to the show is by donation of canned goods for the homeless, and people attending the performances have shown great generosity. Last year, contributions totaled in excess of $10,000 in cash and kind. Joining in the philanthropic aspect of the event, Vons grocery chain matches the contributions, all of which go to the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Mission for distribution.

Like Kevin Kelly, the play’s director, artistic director Ben Donenberg is from New York and is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. He grew up with the tradition of summertime Shakespeare performances in Central Park, and felt the lack of the cultural tradition when he moved to Los Angeles. With the help of Citicorp/Citibank, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency and Mrs. Ira Gershwin, Donenberg was able to stage the first Shakespeare Festival/L.A. in 1986, presenting “Twelfth Night” in Pershing Square.

“The festival has really begun to root itself in the community,” Donenberg says. “Many of the major corporations with downtown offices help out, and their generosity has allowed us to begin a ‘Shakespeare’ outreach program in which we take Shakespeare puppet shows into schools for fourth- and fifth-grade students. With programs like this, the festival is now becoming a year-round program.”

The updated version of “As You Like It” will be presented at three locations in the Southland this month, beginning with performances at Citicorp Plaza downtown today and Sunday at 4 p.m. It will be repeated on Friday (a supper performance) and next weekend at the Plaza. Then it will move, courtesy of County Supervisor Ed Edelman’s enthusiasm, to the John Anson Ford Theatre on Aug. 18, 19 and 20.

The final weekend of the season will be Aug. 26-27 in the Rainbow Lagoon area adjacent to the Long Beach Convention Center, where it will be presented as a companion piece to the Long Beach Renaissance Faire, a yearly event that benefits the Traveler’s Aid Society.

“What we’re doing with this festival is to, as Shakespeare put it, hold a mirror up to nature,” Donenberg says of the “As You Like It” production. “And when you hold Shakespeare up to Los Angeles, his original story line about people fleeing the social and moral decay of the French Imperial court in the 1600s reflects instead the restless immigrant population of New York City in the 1840s fleeing to wide-open Western spaces and the lure of gold. The setting is new, but anywhere you put him, Shakespeare is still Shakespeare.”

While the setting has been changed and the music updated, devotees of the Bard’s work should be aware that the organizers knew better than to tamper with his dialogue. The performance runs about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Donenberg says no special preparations are necessary, but those wishing to better acquaint themselves with the play might benefit from reading one of the condensed versions (such as Cliff’s Notes), available in bookstores. He does advise early reservations when possible (there are only 200 seats available at the Citicorp Plaza location and 1,100 at the John Anson Ford Theatre).

Performances today and Sunday at 4 p.m. Friday’s performance is at 6 p.m., and on Aug. 12-13 at 4 p.m. Citicorp Plaza is at 7th and Figueroa streets. Performances at the John Anson Ford Theatre at 8 p.m. on Aug. 18, 19 and 20; at the Rainbow Lagoon adjacent to the Long Beach Convention Center at 8:15 p.m. Aug. 26-27. For information and reservations, call (213) 489-1121.