‘As You Like It’ festive, not magical at Utah Shakespeare Festival

We all know, thanks to William Shakespeare, that all the world’s a stage. But not all of Shakespeare’s worlds are created equal.

For proof, look no further than the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s current “As You Like It.”

The crowd-pleasing comedy features several of the Bard’s recurring themes, from a woman disguised as a man — thereby discovering power and privilege previously unknown to her — to characters seeking refuge, and finding themselves, in the forest.

There’s just one trouble: Shakespeare more adroitly employs those elements in other, better plays. (One of them is also on this season’s USF schedule: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”)

Even so, a visit to “As You Like It’s” Forest of Arden can be an enchanting experience.

USF’s current production falls short of conjuring such persuasive magic, but a festive time is had by all. Eventually. (Except, of course, for Jaques, the melancholy gentleman who utters those deathless words “All the world’s a stage … ”)

Before the festivities can get underway, however, a few reversals of fortune are in order for “As You Like It’s” resident romantic couple.

At court, Orlando (low-key charmer Jeb Burris) finds himself the target of his evil brother’s inexplicable ire — and must flee to the forest. Which is exactly where Rosalind (Cassandra Bissell, ably conveying her character’s wit and wisdom) heads when her scheming uncle, who stole her father’s dukedom, banishes her.

Rosalind masquerades as a young man when she and her faithful cousin and constant companion Celia (the warm, graceful Susanna Florence) also take refuge in the forest, joining a society of simple rustics who turn out to be far more civilized than their counterparts at court.

Perhaps that’s the point of scenic designer Scott Davis’ minimal sets, which provide a vaguely sylvan backdrop for director Robyn Rodriguez’s sluggish staging of the play’s romantic roundelays.

Rodriguez piles on the pastoral elements, including several pleasant but superfluous musical sequences, in hopes of heightening the hearty atmosphere. But it’s just another way “As You Like It” gets in its own way.

Contact Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.