Directing the Bard as she likes it

Tom Titus

When the Huntington Beach Playhouse first came up with the idea of

presenting an annual “Shakespeare in the Park” production in the

city’s Central Park amphitheater back in 1991, it was the start of a

familial dynasty.

Phil de Barros, who has been with the theater since 1966, was

charged with directing the first outdoor show, and he cast his

23-year-old daughter Wendi in a supporting role. But a week before

opening, the actress playing the leading part had to drop out, so

Wendi moved up to that assignment.

The play was “As You Like It,” and, as Wendi recalls, that’s when

“Shakespeare first got his hooks into me.” When she moved up from

Celia to Rosalind, she discovered a passion for the Bard’s works

that, as she puts it, “I haven’t been able to escape.”

Since that first show, Wendi de Barros has been involved in eight

of the playhouse’s first 11 al fresco productions, taking over as

director in 1997 with “Taming of the Shrew,” in which she also played

Bianca.

“Dad kept getting calls for film assignments and I was his

assistant, so finally I just took over as director,” she said.

Wendi de Barros has been directing the annual Shakespeare in the

Park productions ever since, and often her now-octogenarian father

will be aboard in one role or another. This year, however, will be

special since the theater is reviving that first outdoor show, “As

You Like It.”

“This year’s production will highlight the ambience of the park,”

she says. “I’m using stumps and a log for most of the action in the

Forest of Arden, but we’ll utilize the real eucalyptus trees in the

park as part of the blocking and the action.”

The natural setting seems made to order for this particular play,

the director believes.

“The mythical Forest of Arden, which some scholars believe to be

in France and some in England, to me is a utopian society with

magical plants and animals,” she said. “There are references to palm

trees, willows, lionesses and snakes. The people live simply off the

land and even feel that the rough weather keeps them sane.”

Wendi de Barros didn’t gain all her theatrical talent genetically,

although being the daughter of a veteran actor-director and a

seasoned actress (her mother, La Donna, has prowled the local stages

for more than three decades) certainly didn’t hurt.

Following her graduation from Fountain Valley High School, she

spent two years at Rancho Santiago College’s Professional Actors

Conservatory, followed by two summers of performing at the Grove

Shakespeare Festival. Her professional experience includes a stint on

the TV series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

She describes “As You Like It” as one of Shakespeare’s most

comedic works. The play traces the flight of Rosalind (disguised as a

man, a frequent Shakespearean ploy), her cousin Celia and a court

jester, Touchstone, to the Forest of Arden where her father, the

banished Duke, and his followers enjoy a relatively carefree

existence.

Comic and romantic complications ensue until all the problems are

resolved, as usual, in the finale.

This 12th annual Shakespeare in the Park production will feature a

cast composed of Elise Brown, Alexandrea Culp, Ariel Delgado, Dimas

Diaz, Don Ellis, Mary-Pat Gonzalez, Gabriel Haastrup, Lana Joy,

Kathleen Lowcock, Amy Oldham, Robert Purcell, Adrian Ramos, James

Reagan, Scott Reichert, David Rusiechi and Will Vourlas.

Performances will be staged in the Central Park amphitheater just

northeast of the library, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach.

Curtain is 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from July 5-27, and

reservations are available at (714) 375-0696.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.