Mike Fischer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saw 10 shows and has ranked them, less as a reductive prescription than as an invitation to conversation.
1) Macbeth: “one’s deepest and darkest thoughts emerge into what little light there ever is; watching this world unfold, one feels an unsettling, primeval connection to characters who are both a millennium old (this production is set in eleventh-century Scotland) and a reflection of ourselves and our neighbors.”
2) All My Sons: “…marvel anew at how much his play still has to say to us and the way we live now…”
3) A Chorus Line: from the tryout at the top of the show to the symbolic, outward facing circle the ensemble creates near journey’s end, we’re reminded that “love’s what we’ll remember.”
4) Bunny: ” I’m not pulling punches when predicting a rousing success for this darkly funny and also wrenching account of a woman (beautifully played by Maev Beaty) in her late thirties, looking back on a lonely life in which her need to be needed results in numerous sexual relationships.”

Personally, I think As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s less inspired comedies, as most of its plot is actually borrowed from Thomas Lodge’s prose romance Rosalynde. However, the strong cast, interactive aspects, and interesting setting breathe new life into what could have otherwise been a very dull play….Infusing Newfoundland participatory culture with Shakespeare is an incredibly imaginative decision, and setting the play in the ’80s adds that extra element of fun with big hair, crazy costumes and all those shoulder pads.

Newfoundland permeates every aspect of this production, making it an ethnographic experience of sorts…at intermission I heard one east-coast attendee raving about how much it meant to her to hear “an accent that you don’t normally associate with Shakespeare” being spoken on the Festival stage.

Keiley finds her resonances in a specifically Newfoundland context. She’s thinking about the rediscovery and reclamation of the culture of the province’s far-flung communities and outports in the 1980s, after decades of resettlement to bigger towns. Her production treats As You Like It as “an argument to recognize the good of rural living.” When it kicks off properly, you warm quickly to Rosalind (Petrina Bromley, a genuine Newfoundlander) and Celia (Trish Lindstrom).

For the first time in your experience, the two central characters feel like genuine cousins with a real female friendship….[from] the first female director to be entrusted with a Shakespeare in the Festival Theatre since 2008.

This show knows exactly what it is, and the company appears to have a riot doing it. It is a great night out for audience members who are looking to brush up on their Shakespeare, roll up their sleeves and get involved, and not take things too seriously while doing it. There is also the added bonus of incredible live music performed by on-stage musicians Graham Hargrove, Keelan Purchase, Dan Stacey, and Kyle Wayworth.