Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Performance of "As You Like It" is Accessible Art Done Well

By Victoria Kirkham ‘26

It's 7:30pm on the Boston Common in late July, and hundreds of people sit on blankets, folding chairs, or grass, waiting for the stage lights to come up and Shakespeare's play As You Like It, put on by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, to begin. I'm used to being one of the few people my age coming to see these kinds of performances, yet this time, I see people of all ages around me. When Mayor Michelle Wu goes up onstage to say a few words, she's carrying her 6-month-old as she emphasizes the importance of the accessibility of the arts to all.

C) takes action to back up the goal stated on their website of "eliminating established economic, physical, and cultural barriers," in order to "ensure that everyone has access to world-class performances, thereby returning theater to its communal roots." At As A&E You Like It, this commitment to accessibility was evident. The performance I attended was free to the public and featured closed-captioning; other nights of the show's run had ASL interpretation and audio description, and wheelchair-accessible seating was specifically available, reserved, and free. Beyond these specific steps taken to make their performances disability accessible, CSC's performance was fun: Shakespeare can admittedly be stuffy and difficult to read, a pitfall that some productions can easily trip into. As You Like It, as a show, offers lots of room to play with characterization. Whether it was Rosalind's actor's seamless switching between male and female characters or joke deliveries that easily translated 500-year-old humor to the modern day, CSC's cast brought Shakespeare's play to life with incredible acting, beautiful costumes, and a well-designed set, all in a temporary venue and free to the public. The quality of the performance was outstanding, but beyond that, this summer show and this organization represent more than just an event and a theater company, both for those involved and those coming to watch.

The production doesn't simply appear in a vacuum: CSC's commitment to community means employing a team of local actors, carpenters, builders, technicians, students, and other workers. I reached out to a member of the team that pulls all this off each year to see behind the scenes and find out: How does CSC turn a patch of grass in the Boston Common into a professional performance venue-complete with lights, sound, and wiring-and back again in three weeks? Thomas Cappelli, who has worked on the annual Shakespeare on the Common show for four years in scenic production and this year as interim Technical DirecPAGE 9 tor, explains that it takes a few dozen technicians and carpenters just to put up and take down the set, not to mention crew during the run of the show. He says that he loves seeing the transformation from grassy strip in the Common to professional theatre venue each summer, but that the outdoors comes with its downsidesnamely, the weather. "The sets generally have to be built to withstand wind, rain, or shine, and electrical cabling is covered with plastic tarps as needed," Cappelli notes, adding that summer heat presents an important consideration and complicating factor for the safety of the actors and crew.

Nevertheless, it is the fact that this yearly production takes place in the summer, outside, and in a public place that makes it so special. There's a sort of magic in watching live theatre while sitting on a picnic blanket on a summer night that you don't find at home watching a movie or TV show, especially when it comes to Shakespeare's works. CSC does an excellent job of bringing the magic and fun of Shakespeare to the public each summer, encouraging the support of local arts and artists in a time where, under the Trump administration, both of those things have been under massive threat: take the Trump administration's National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant cuts, which flew under the radar on most major news networks but which have already impacted organizations for the arts via a withdrawal of government funding for groups like Boston's Project STEP, a string instrument program for Black and Latino students underrepresented in classical music spaces. Community support for the arts is more important now than ever-and by supporting local organizations like CSC, you also support the continued existence of the arts and artists as a whole. Cappelli says, "We have a strong theatre economy here in Boston, and CSC is a notable part of that," explaining that the creation of employment opportunities "allows and encourages local artists to make their art and share it with the people of Greater Boston." Boston's theater community is tight-knit, and especially in the wake of some major closings, it needs continued support. So, next time you see public art, especially when emphasis is placed on accessibility and community as it was in CSC's As You Like It, check it out. Making Boston a home for everyone, as Mayor Wu said in her speech before the performance began, "includes making sure that the arts are part of every conversation." The arts truly are for everyone; let's keep them that way.