About the Play:

The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It is a full-length comedy by Don Nigro. Don't be intimidated by the title! The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It is NOT your typical Shakespearean production. This very clever adaptation of As You Like It features a rag-tag troupe of under-rehearsed and ill-equipped actors who play 33 roles trying to deliver one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches "All the world's a stage," while proving its' truth with many laughs. Especially recommended for school and contest use.

The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It tells the story of a comically inept acting company that attempts to perform As You Like It with hilarious perseverance. This unusual reduction of Shakespeare's play is subtitled "The record of one company's attempt to perform the play by William Shakespeare." When the prolific Don Nigro was asked by a professional theatre company 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 Shakespeare's play. Many key scenes from the original are performed intact while the dramatic interest and the comedy derive from the seven desperate players strive to cover all the parts and make some magic with the great playwright's work. The predicament begins with the lead actor departing for a career as a professional wrestler and the leading actress losing her mind. With Curate's encouragement and support, the remaining actors and actresses attempt to perform all 33 roles, which results in many comical missteps. Inexperience, ego, romance, and even insanity must be overcome to bring The Bard's words to life. Touching and very funny, this is a true tribute to the core theme of As You Like It … "All the world's a stage."

The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It premiered in 1976 at Indiana State University's Summer Repertory Theater (now called Crossroads Repertory Theatre) in Terre Haute, Indiana. The play has become an underground comic classic performed in fringe festival, high school, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 3 female, 4 male

What people say:

"In a charming, show-must-go-on take on As You Like it, we meet a shambling troupe of actors set to stage the Bard's pastoral comedy, but barely keeping it together as they go." — The Vue Weekly (Edmonton)

"The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It, a comedy that sets up the work of the world's greatest playwright as something that everybody can embrace." — Orlando Sentinel

"It's a blend of the Bard and modern comedy, a look at the traveling troupe of actors who struggle to perform one of Shakespeare's most popular pastoral comedies, They pull it off but the process is – something to watch." — Santa Cruz Sentinel

About the Playwright:

Don Nigro is a prolific American playwright with over 400 works touching on a wide variety of themes including murder mysteries (the Inspector Ruffing series), American history (the Pendragon County plays), Russian life and culture, art and artists, and more. His work has been produced around the world and translated into ten languages. He has twice been a finalist for the National Repertory Theatre Foundation's National Play Award, and has won a Playwriting Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as grants from the Ohio Arts Council.