The Bridge Project is a collaboration of artists and actors from both sides of "the pond" and in its latest production, As You Like It, the Brits unintentionally get revenge for losing their 13 American colonies. The disparity between the actors on either side of the Atlantic makes for a schizophrenic bard. Not that Americans can't play Shakespeare, it's just that these chosen Americans can't. Take for example the Touchstone of Thomas Sadoski. One could agree that this court jester might seem like a frat boy, but not an annoying boring one which is what Mr. Sadoski gives us. I don't think he has a clue who this character is. On a par with Mr. Sadoski is Christian Camargo whose puling rendering of Orlando makes the character not lovesick but simply sick. Even when he discovers his beloved Rosalind, he turns a little green around the gills. And as Celia, Michelle Beck gives a whole new definition to iambic pentameter and not in a good way. Conversely watch and listen how even in the minor roles of Corin and Oliver, the British Anthony O'Donnell and Edward Bennett can convey the full lives of their characters effortlessly, and how Michael Thomas as the sibling dukes brings vibrant life to what are actually relatively dull roles. Best of all is Stephen Dillane's Jaques. If at times a little too quiet, the performance is otherwise natural, unique and hilarious. Once Mr. Dillane arrives on stage you don't want him to leave. This brings us to our main character, Rosalind, acted with a capital "A" by Juliet Rylance, a British actress married to the American Christian Camargo in real life. All I can say is beware. Very charming and energetic, Ms. Rylance radiates warmth in the cavernous Harvey Theatre melting the wintry chill that director Sam Mendes imposes on the production. However, she vocally forces the text, often out of its meaning, and thus the emotions are forced as well. Perhaps she felt she had to oversell or compensate considering she spends most of her stage time with Messrs. Sadoski and Camargo and Ms. Beck. She should have looked to Mr Dillane for support.

I do not envy Mr. Mendes's task here - a bipolar cast and a difficult play that needs to be judiciously edited. An As You Like It at three hours is not how I Iike it. Nonetheless, Mr. Mendes gives it a game try setting the work in a kind of contemporary anywhere (I kept thinking of Iceland for some reason). Oddly, the most affecting directorial touches come with the scene transitions that are beautifully staged and accomplished with the help of Tom Piper's lighting and Mark Bennett's live music, and Mr. Mendes somehow manages a joyous ending despite the slog to get to it.

One might accuse me of Anglophilia, and, well, yes I have to fess up, it's true. But I have seen American casts work wonders with the classics (even here, Aaron Krohn, Ashlie Atkinson and Jonathan Lincoln Fried are fine). Could it be there is still an us versus them conflict at work? I feel the only way the accrued riches that England lost in their colonial investment will only be avenged with the total collapse of the dollar.

...end