DATE: Sunday, June 29, 1997                 TAG: 9706270254

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY: A THEATER REVIEW 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  126 lines

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S PLAYFOR LAUGHS, YOU CAN'T BE THE FREE PRICE FOR THIS CHESAPEAKE PRODUCTION OF ``AS YOU LIKE IT'' IN TCC CAMPUS WOODS.

IF HE'S DONE his job properly, he's completely exhausted by the end of the play.

Robert O'Leary steals the show as Shakespeare's sarcastic clown Touchstone in Tidewater Community College's presentation of ``As You Like It.''

O'Leary knows that much of the comedy's blank verse and 16th-century puns will be lost on modern audiences. But he also knows that audiences of any era always fall for the same thing - broad physical comedy.

O'Leary struts and frets his hours upon the stage with the agile facial expressions of an Elizabethan Groucho Marx. He rolls his eyes while chasing eager country wenches. He pats the backsides of courtly ladies. He even delivers some of his lines upside-down.

``I'm trying to find as much physical humor as possible in the role,'' said O'Leary, a Chesapeake native who now teaches drama at Ocean Lakes High School. ``So if people don't understand a line, they'll at least understand my gestures.''

``As You Like It'' is O'Leary's first chance to act in a Chesapeake-based play. Chesapeake is one of the only cities in Hampton Roads without a repertory company or theater. With few exceptions, its dramatic offerings have been limited to high school productions and plays brought in from other cities, said L. Randy Harrison, Chesapeake's fine arts coordinator.

Director Edwin Jacob hopes ``As You Like It'' will help kick-start an annual Shakespeare festival.

All of the play's cast and crew are from Chesapeake, Jacob said. Several are Chesapeake public school teachers, while others are TCC students or Great Bridge graduates.

Catherine Gendell returned to Chesapeake from New York to star as Rosalind, the comedy's heroine. Gendell is pursuing an acting career and has landed a role on a future MTV program.

Gendell is ``the real work horse'' of the play, Jacob said, appearing in nearly every scene.

As Rosalind, she is given some of the play's wittiest lines. She instructs Phebe not to hold out too long for the right man. ``Sell while you can,'' Rosalind says, ``you are not for all markets.''

Yet, during dress rehearsals last week, Gendell's Rosalind failed to capture the sparkling intelligence and independence that has made Rosalind one of Shakespeare's most famous heroines. Her Rosalind is more of the teen-ager in love than the far-sighted arranger of multiple plots. And Bob Higgins, as the cynic Jacques, recites Shakespeare's famous ``Seven Ages of Man'' speech flatly and with little inflection. He misses the opportunity to paint a picture of human vanity, to capture the futility of lives that prosper only to wither away into second infancy.

Jacob, however, makes good use of Shakespeare's scant stage directions. In his hands, a dangerous fighting contest in Act I becomes a professional wrestling-style brawl, complete with a champion with the looks of Hulk Hogan but the dialect of Rocky Balboa.

Many of the play's smallest roles produce its most humorous performances. Matt Russell makes the most of his small role as the wrestler Charles, ripping the shirt off his back before stepping into the ring. Cheryl Prigge plays the love struck shepherdess Phebe as if she's more at home in the Ozarks than a medieval forest - with hilarious results. Jacob tried to talk her into wearing a bustle or a ``butt pad'' to emphasize her character's waddling walk, Prigge said. But with temperatures in the mid-90s all week, the idea never had a chance.

Prigge, like many of the Chesapeake actors in ``As You Like It,'' raves about Jacob - not only for his directing, but for his work to get the play off the ground. She is thrilled about landing a part as colorful as Phebe - especially so close to home.

``One of the nicest parts about this is that it's free,'' Prigge said. ``You can bring a picnic, bring some juice and bring some culture.'' MEMO: ``As You Like It'' concludes tonight at TCC-Chesapeake, located at

the corner of Bells Mill and Cedar roads. The free performance begins

promptly at 8 p.m. For more information, call 421-7634. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by STEVE EARLEY

Cary Nothnagel as Orlando, wearing a mask, and Matt Russell as

Charles wrestle during a rehearsal scene from ``As You Like It'' on

the TCC campus.

Cheryl Prigge, left, like many of the Chesapeake actors, raves about

Edwin Jacob, right, - not only for his directing, but for his work

to get the play off the ground.

Jaime Swingley, left, as Amiens and Bob Higgins as Jacques go over a

scene backstage while Robert O'Leary as Touchstone rehearses his

antics.

Cheryl Prigge as Phebe rushes out after a costume change during

rehearsal. Open areas behind the makeshift stage are the only

changing rooms.

Jaime Swingley, portraying Amiens, sings during a rehearsal for the

Chesapeake TCC production of ``As You Like It.'' The final show is

tonight at 8 p.m. in a wooded area near the campus. It is free.

Graphic

THE PLOT OF ``AS YOU LIKE IT''

Shakespeare's comedy revolves around the adventures of a princess

named Rosalind and the assortment of fops, farmers and fools she

meets in the forest of Arden.

Fearing the murderous designs of an evil duke who has stolen her

father's land, Rosalind flees into the forest with her female cousin

and trusty court fool, Touchstone.

And there the gender-bending begins.

Concerned that ``beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold,''

Rosalind disguises herself as a boy and calls herself Ganymede - an

allusion to the young boy in Greek mythology who caught Zeus's eye.

But, as always in Shakespeare, complications ensue.

Who does Rosalind run into in the forest but her own father, who

is also hiding out from the evil duke, a troop of fun-loving

shepherds and - most importantly - the handsome Orlando, whose good

looks impress Rosalind even if his wretched love poetry does not.

Then, more complications.

Rosalind falls hard for the dreamy Orlando. The only problem is -

she's dressed like his little brother. She's so cute as a boy, in

fact, that she inspires the lust of an uncouth shepherdess. The

shepherdess, in turn, is beloved by her own country bumpkin. How can

Rosalind win Orlando's love? How does she know if it's love or lust?

And how can she get rid of that cloying shepherdess?

Never fear. Rosalind resolves it all in the end.

Rosalind's wit in untangling no fewer than four love knots have

made her one of Shakespeare's most beloved heroines.

- Liz Szabo

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