Reese Cowley & Jeff Yung in Pastoral | Photo by Mike McPhaden
The narrative thrust of Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho)’s sequel to Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the aptly named Pastoral, presented by Shakespeare in the Ruff, feels very pantomime. It has campy self-awareness and the story occupies that tell-tale limbo, where classical elements exist alongside references to Doug Ford, Instagram and nepo babies. The messaging about progress and environmental activism are, on one level, a bit hokey, designed to be accessible to youngsters, but there’s intelligence and lyricism in the craft, allowing real insight to emerge from the playfulness. Continue Reading