Match: Lit Presents Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT

This February, rising indie Shakespeare company Match: Lit brings to its audience one of William Shakespeare's best-loved comedies in As You Like It. The production is directed by Laurel Andersen (Barefoot Shakespeare, Occupy Verona, Turn To Flesh Productions) and is produced by Match: Lit's Executive Artistic Director, Kristin Sgarro, who also serves as the production's composer and musical director. The production will open Thursday, February 13 and close Sunday, February 23.

While maintaining their signature intimate setting, As You Like It aims to be the company's most ambitious production to date, expanding to an ensemble of eleven actors with live music to enhance Shakespeare's written lyric. The piece examines the stark contrast between the rigid, sterile world of the Court and the free, discoverable nature of the Forest of Arden.

"As You Like It is a beloved text, a play I've been drawn to for years, and I feel tremendously privileged to have been given the opportunity to gently pull it apart and look at it again with fresh eyes," says Director Andersen. "Match: Lit is an actor-forward company, and the casting of this tremendous group of artists has been instrumental in rediscovering the play, enabling both our deconstruction and celebration of what makes this an enduring story. [We] have looked at these characters anew, and in many cases, made alterations: we've merged characters together, changed their gender identities, re-examined our assumptions about who they are and what they want-all this in service of getting to the heart of the piece, in foraging for the big questions about life that lie in all of Shakespeare's work."

Match: Lit presents the endeavor midway through their 2019-2020 season-this spring, they continue with the next round of their beloved BARDcore series: Shakespeare readings over trivia at a bar, meant to unite all "Shakesnerds."

"I greatly look forward to Laurel knocking this production out of the park," says Sgarro-who dons multiple hats as the Executive Producer, Composer, and cast member. "We originally presented As You Like It as one of our BARDcore readings in early 2019, also with Laurel at the helm; and, simply put, the reception was extraordinary. It's a production that can easily and often does become insincere; but audiences will see the earnestness exuding from each performer with this particular directorial and musical approach. It's a tremendously talented team-we're in good hands."

Tickets are $22 in advance ($26 at the door) and will be available online January 20 via www.matchlit.org.