{"id":135953,"date":"2026-06-03T13:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=135953"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:58:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:58:58","slug":"marin-shakespeare-company-opens-vibrant-pride-forward-production-of-as-you-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/marin-shakespeare-company-opens-vibrant-pride-forward-production-of-as-you-like-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Marin Shakespeare Company Opens Vibrant, Pride-Forward Production of ‘As You Like It’"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 3, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Love takes center stage under the summer sky as Marin Shakespeare Company presents \u201cAs You Like It,\u201d adapted and directed by Evren Odcikin and running June 19 through July 19 at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre. A dazzling, music-filled, fashion-forward romp through the Forest of Arden. Joyous and romantic, this reimagining leans into the comedy\u2019s delicious fluidity of gender and identity. Join the celebration of love, out loud, in all its forms.<\/p>\n

\"Marin
Image caption: FRONT: Evren Odcikin, Lady Zen, Stevie DeMott, Lisa Wolpe* BACK: Adam Magill*, Dave Maier, Chris Steele, Cathleen Riddley*, David Sinaiko, Juen\u00e9e Simon*, Fatemeh Mehraban. Photo Credit: Hunter F. Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n

Odcikin\u2019s vibrant production opens during Pride Month and invites audiences into one of Shakespeare\u2019s most playful explorations of love and desire. In Odcikin\u2019s vision, Arden is not simply a place of exile or escape. It is a world where people find the language, the community, and the courage to say who they are out loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis play has always held queer multitudes,\u201d says adaptor and director Evren Odcikin. \u201cFor me, Arden is not where these characters discover who they are. It\u2019s where they finally get to say it out loud. This production is about community, self-articulation, and the kind of joy that is chosen, defiant, and hard-won.\u201d<\/p>\n

The production draws a vivid contrast between the polished danger of the court and the liberated world of Arden. The court is sleek, status-obsessed, and tightly controlled; Arden is colorful, communal, musical, and alive \u2014 inspired less by a traditional pastoral fantasy than by the backyard of a queer Bay Area gathering place where \u201cweirdos and outsiders can breathe.\u201d With high fashion, music, movement, and the expansive beauty of MSC\u2019s outdoor summer amphitheatre, this \u201cAs You Like It\u201d trades the usual forest fantasy for something stranger, sharper, and more celebratory.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvren\u2019s vision expands the play in exactly the way great Shakespeare should,\u201d says Artistic Director Jon Tracy. \u201cIt is deeply thoughtful, wildly theatrical, and full of life. This is a production about love, identity, community, and the courage it takes to be fully seen \u2014 all set inside one of Shakespeare\u2019s most joyful comedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The production also brings two extraordinary guest artists to Marin Shakespeare Company\u2019s summer stage. Lady Zen, appearing as Amiens and serving as composer and music director, is a Fulbright mezzo, poet, librettist, actor, and genre-defying entertainment artist whose Lyric Fusion Poetics blends opera, jazz, photography, and spoken word. Based in Mexico, she has toured and taught across Central America and Europe, and previously composed music for MSC\u2019s \u201cHamlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Wolpe, appearing as Jacques, is one of the world\u2019s great Shakespeare artists: a performer, director, educator, and founder of the all-female, multicultural Los Angeles Women\u2019s Shakespeare Company. She has performed and directed at major Shakespeare companies across the world, and her acclaimed solo work \u201cShakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender\u201d has toured internationally \u2014 making her presence especially electric in this gender-fluid reimagining.<\/p>\n

The cast also features two acclaimed Bay Area performers at the heart of Shakespeare\u2019s great comedy: Jeun\u00e9e Simon as Rosalind and Adam Magill as Orlando. They are joined by Stevie DeMott as Olivia, Dave Maier as Charles\/Oliver Martext, Fatemeh Mehraban as Celia, Cathleen Riddley as Adam\/Duke Senior, David Sinaiko as Touchstone, and Chris Steele as Le Beau\/Audrey.<\/p>\n

At the center of the story are Rosalind and Orlando, two outsiders who recognize something true in one another before the rest of the world catches up. Around them, Shakespeare\u2019s beloved comedy unfolds with mistaken identities, romantic confusion, sharp wit, music, movement, and a joyful collision of hearts. In Odcikin\u2019s adaptation, the ending becomes not simply a set of marriages, but a communal celebration of love in its many forms.<\/p>\n

Performances run June 19 through July 19 at Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, located on the campus of Dominican University of California in San Rafael. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are available now at: https:\/\/www.marinshakespeare.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:<\/strong>
\n\u201cAs You Like It\u201d
\nJune 19 \u2013 July 19, 2026
\nThursdays \u2013 Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
\nSundays at 5 p.m.
\nForest Meadows Amphitheatre
\n890 Belle Ave, San Rafael, CA<\/p>\n

Tickets $0 – $49<\/p>\n

June 19 – \u201cPreview\u201d (Discount Tickets from $10-$25)<\/p>\n

June 21 – \u201cSenior Matinee\u201d ($20 Tickets for Seniors 65+)<\/p>\n

June 27 – \u201cFull Moon\u201d (Enjoy a full Moon rising above the stage!)<\/p>\n

June 28 – \u201cFamily Day\u201d (FREE Admission for youths age 25 and under)<\/p>\n

July 2 – \u201cPay-What-You-Will\u201d (Choose your own price!)<\/p>\n

ABOUT MARIN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stories live at Marin Shakespeare Company, constantly reimagined and renewed through the bold choices of the artists who shape them. We strive to be a hub for connection, using the complexity of world stories\u2014past and present\u2014through multiple theatrical forms to open space for questions, reflection, and action. Our productions invite audiences into worlds that are alive, urgent, and fully human, where laughter, wonder, and challenge coexist. Marin Shakespeare Company is Playing for Good. Learn more at: https:\/\/www.marinshakespeare.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n

POSTER image for media: https:\/\/www.marinshakespeare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Cast-Wall-2-4×5-2-scaled.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

LOGO link for media: https:\/\/www.marinshakespeare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/MSC_LOGO_MAIN-PRIDE-scaled.png<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 3, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Love takes center stage under the summer sky as Marin Shakespeare Company presents “As You Like It,” adapted and directed by Evren Odcikin and running June 19 through July 19 at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre. A dazzling, music-filled, fashion-forward romp through the Forest of Arden. Joyous and romantic, this reimagining leans into the comedy’s delicious fluidity of gender and identity. Join the celebration of love, out loud, in all its forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10293,"featured_media":135952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[406,12804,1,10,37,237,197,103],"tags":[10161],"class_list":["post-135953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts-news","category-ap","category-business-news","category-california-news","category-entertainment-news","category-live-theatre-news","category-event-news","category-san-francisco-news","tag-shakespeare","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":277,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135961,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135953\/revisions\/135961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}