Laurie Woolery: Last News

Frank Rizzo Get thee to Arden — or at least to the Arden depicted in the glorious, delightful and big-hearted musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” created as part of the Public Theater’s Public Works program and now playing at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. (The run ends Sept. 11, but here’s hoping it will find future life.) This Arden, as envisioned in Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery’s just-the-essentials, 95-minute adaptation, is a place of refuge, generosity, joy, growth and forgiveness — but most of all, of transformational love. After all, it ends with a quadruple wedding ceremony. It’s also a well-populated place, featuring two alternating casts of 80. The diverse, all-ages ensemble comes from all five of New York City’s boroughs and even includes athletes from the Bronx Wrestling Federation, an inspired addition to the Bard’s grappling scene.

Danai Gurira, the actress most widely known for her roles in Marvel’s Avengers franchise and AMC’s The Walking Dead, will play one of the stage’s great villains this summer when she takes the title character of Richard III for New York’s Free Shakespeare in the Park.

By Greg Evans