Paul Connell as Orlando and The Palos Hills Forest Preserve as Arden

The "As You Like It" Hike

William Shakespeare's comedy set in the Forest of Arden, played along a two mile trail

Directed by Frank Farrell

Hiking  Theatre in New York's Central Park!

Equity Library Theatre Chicago (ELT) presented The AS YOU LIKE IT Hike in Central Park in September 2000.


Frank Farrell as Touchstone and New York' s Central Park as Arden

William Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It was performed by Equity actors Robert W. Behr, Joseph Bowen, Norm Boucher, Paul Connell, Frank Farrell, Nancy Giangrasse, Michelle Goltzman, Richard Henzel, Herb Lichtenstein, Katherine Marie Loague, Nancy Nickel, Suzanne Petri, Lucinda Underwood, & Luke Wilkins. All actors are members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers, and they have volunteered their time working on this showcase presentation.

Frank Farrell approached ELT and coordinated hiking versions of Shakespeare's As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream, which were performed in the summer of '98 & '99 in Chicago's nearby Cook County Forest Preserves and at White Pines Forest State Park in Mt. Morris, Illinois.  Since 1952 ELT, a not for profit organization, has been presenting showcase productions in Chicago.  ELT presented a six and a half-hour production of Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude this past February, setting it in a Mansion.  Audience members were taken to different rooms for each of the play's nine acts.  This summer this Chicago group is presenting "Midsummer Night's Dream" in June, "Rip Van Winkle" in August, and "Robyn Hood of Barnsdale Wood," our hiking version of "William Shakespeare's 'lost' manuscript of the story of Robin Hood" in August.

This project is partially funded by a City Arts 1 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs with additional funding provided by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
 

Press Contact: Frank Farrell
 at
(312) 729-4142 daytime
 or
 (773) 293-1358


Articles and reviews from last years' theatre hikes:

American Hiking Magazine, October 1998

Backpacker Magazine, February 1999


Audience/hikers were encouraged to bring a small lunch,

drinking water, and a good pair of hiking boots.


"Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?"

Duke Senior from AS YOU LIKE IT


This project was partially funded by a City Arts 1 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs with additional funding provided by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. All actors are members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

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