Sparking performances and inventive direction make a 427-year-old play come vibrantly alive for modern audiences in The Porters Of Hellsgate’s inspired take on one of William Shakespeare’s most frequently staged comedies, the provocatively gender-bending As You Like It.

A radiant Julia Manis stars as Rosalind, whose father Duke Senior (Ted Barton) has been exiled by his power-coveting younger brother Frederick (Barton too), and there is similar sibling rivalry between brothers Orlando (Riley Shanahan) and Oliver (Tiago Santos), the latter of whom sets up a wrestling match between his younger brother and the current champion Charles (Kyle T. Hester) that Orlando unexpectedly wins, prompting his flight into the woods to escape Oliver’s wrath.

None too pleased with the above events, Duke Frederick banishes Rosalind, who donning men’s garb as “Ganymede,” heads to the forest accompanied by the Duke’s daughter Celia (Dana DeRuyck), aka Ganymede’s female chum “Aliena,” and court jester Touchstone (Gus Krieger).

It doesn’t take long for Orlando and Ganymede to meet cute and for the latter to offer to help cure the former of his lovesickness for Rosalind by pretending to be her, i.e., guess who now finds himself in the throes of same-sex attraction (or at least so it seems).

Also popping up in the forest of Arden are “the melancholy Jacques” (Will Block), shepherd William (Bigley) who vies with Touchstone for the love of shepherdess Audrey (Nicole Ledoux), and shepherd Sylvius (Edwin Zhu), hopelessly crushing on Phebe (Cindy Nguyen), who only has eyes for Ganymede.

Talk about romantic tangles!

Clocking in at nearly three hours, As You Like It could use (in this reviewer’s humble opinion) a trim, and if the last half-hour before intermission drags a bit, things perk up (and then some) once we’re back in our seats, a combination of Shakespeare’s clever writing and ingenious plot twists, Block’s lively direction, and a cast who from the get-go make Shakespeare’s words seem almost contemporary, mining laughs from fresh new takes on classic lines, unexpected facial reactions, or bits of physical comedy along the way.

Manis is so captivating as the witty, resourceful Rosalind, it’s no wonder Shanahan’s dynamic, passionate Orlando is smitten; DeRuyck is a tart, snappy delight as the sharp-witted Celia; Santos seethes to magnetic effect as the envy-blinded Oliver; Krieger delivers a droll, quirky turn as the quick-tongued Touchstone; and melancholy has never been more endearing than in Block’s Jacques.

Barton’s two Dukes may be dead ringers, but you know in an instant which is the benevolent Duke Senior and which is the tyrannical Duke Frederick, and the same can be said for Bigley’s devoted elderly servant Adam and his naive 20something country boy William.

Recent UCLA grad Zhu could not make for more appealingly lovesick Sylvius, Nguyen once again steals every scene she’s in as the deliciously disdainful (of Sylvius at least) Phebe, and these are just two of the five roles these two talented young actors play.

Ledoux acts, sings, and strums the guitar quite beguilingly indeed as the unpretentious Audrey (compositions by music director Mina Bloom and “Under the Greenwood Tree” composed by Rivers Cuomo), and Hester’s burly wrestler Charles not only engages in one of the most punch-pounding, tumbles-packed stage fights ever opposite Shanahan’s Orlando (major snaps to fight choreographer Dane Oliver), he doubles as the wise shepherd Corin and gives Bill and Ted a run for their surfer/slacker money as Oliver and Orlando’s middle brother Jacques De Boys.

Bigley’s scenic design proves that you don’t need big bucks to transport an audience from a ducal court to a woodsy countryside and the multi-tasker not only lights it quite stunningly, he serves a prop master as well, with additional design kudos shared by sound designer Nick Neidorf and an uncredited costumer.

Mackenzie Simon is stage manager.

As You Like It marks the 36th of William Shakespeare’s canon of 38 plays to be produced by The Porters of Hellsgate, not bad for a company founded twenty years ago by a trio of freshly graduated Palisades High School theater kids.

That Shakespeare 36.0 is not only one of their best but also one of the best Shakespeare productions I’ve reviewed over nearly as many years gives it bona fide event status.

Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center, 11006 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Through November 1. Saturdays at 8:00 and Sundays at 2:00. Also Saturday October 31 at 2:00
www.portersofhellsgate.com

–Steven Stanley
October 23, 2026
Photos: Alyssa Dorn

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Los Angeles Theater Review, Porters Of Hellsgate, William Shakespeare