Shakespeare gets a new look in PCT’s production of ‘As You Like It’
Shakespeare received a 1960s-style makeover in the PCT production of “As You Like It” in February. The Bard’s “love conquers all” comedy played on the Swanson Center Mainstage under guest director Lisa Cesnik of Athens. Cesnick set the play in the mid-1960s and used familiar tunes and fashions from the period. While she believes that Shakespeare’s themes and stories are timeless, Cesnik feels this adaptation makes his work more accessible to a 2009 audience. Cesnik has worked in theatre professionally for 20 years and earned her MFA from the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at UGA in 2001. She has directed at many theaters throughout the U.S., including venues in Chicago, Richmond, Indianapolis, and Atlanta. While working in Chicago, she won a “Critic’s Choice” award from the Chicago Reader for her direction of “My Dirty Little Secret.” In 2006, she founded the Rose of Athens Theatre in Athens, Ga., and she has an ongoing relationship with the Springer Opera House in Columbus, where she teaches at the Springer Theatre Academy. Cesnik has also performed lead roles in many productions including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” s
14