It’s Set in America but This ‘As You Like It’ Has the Feel of Britain : Stage: At the Grove, the Bard’s comedy looks and sounds more like Edwardian England.

Sometimes it’s less important when a play takes place than how, the perfect example being Thomas F. Bradac’s production of Shakepeare’s “As You Like It” at the Grove Shakespeare Festival. In this case the concept of setting the play in 1904 is just fine, even though it doesn’t make much of a point outside the visual framework it provides.

Bradac’s director’s notes also indicate the play’s setting is the United States. It looks and sounds more Edwardian England. In 1904, the rough-woven knee breeches on the adult males had all but been replaced by long pants even in rural America. Other anachronisms in Lyndall L. Otto’s attractive costume design include early 19th-Century dresses for the shepherdesses. None of this would be illogical were the setting English.

More of a point would also be made concerning the diminishing distance between the upper and lower classes following the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, the edges between the divine right of money and power blending more imperceptibly than ever before with the divine correctness of bucolic egalitarianism.

Even the original score by Chuck Estes, one of his best, seems to fit more easily into the British milieu, the shattered raggy rhythms of his setting for “Greenwood Tree” (ragtime hit England like a bombshell at this period) and his haunting melody for “Blow, blow, thou winter wind.” The songs continue the British tone of the production in the Celtic openness and precise vocal control of Tom Juarez’s sensitive rendering.

The focus of the production comes from the performances of David Drummond and Elizabeth Norment as Orlando and Rosalind. Once again, they play together beautifully, sparking humor that is often not evident in the roles, and seeming to respond to each other as though they are tossing their thoughts back and forth for the first time. They’re a joy to watch and listen to.

Bradac’s direction is fluid but doesn’t allow enough variance in the balance between scenes. Contrast in rhythm and color would make the production stronger and highlight its brightest moments. But Bradac’s balance between characters is intriguing. Following the idea of an English setting, Gary Armagnac’s Jaques seems to be a London author on holiday. It’s a mysterious and intriguing performance.

There is little mystery in Carl Reggiardo’s double role as the power hungry Duke Frederick and as the brother he banished from their stately home; Reggiardo’s lyrical Duke Senior comes through with the most detail and three-dimensional reality. Roxanna Augesen is a charmer of a Celia, and Harry Woolf makes a fine Touchstone, a sort of music hall type with green piping on his gray plaid suit (and a 1930s camera) and just the slightest hint of smarminess around the edges. The company gives strong support, particularly Brenan Baird’s snitty stuffiness as Orlando’s brother Oliver, who looks as though he probably went to Eton and Cambridge.

Technically the show works well on D. Martyn Bookwalter’s basic set, nicely lit by David Palmer and with an excellent sound design by John Fisher.

Try the British angle as you watch the production. It makes a little more sense as a concept and makes a lot more sense within the structure of Bradac’s direction.

At 12852 Main St., Garden Grove; Thursdays through Sundays 8:30 p.m. (Aug. 25, 9 p.m.); ends Aug. 25. $16-$23; (714) 636-7213.