'As You Like It'

With a wink and a smile, Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” kicks off the outdoor-summer season at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre in Balboa Park.

The story goes like this: Duke Senior, played by Cornell Womack, is usurped from power by his brother Frederick, who plays a dual role. Upon Frederick’s decree, Senior is stripped of his title and banished from the ducal court.

The exiled lord enlists his supporters to follow him into the safety of the nearby Forest of Arden.

Fearing no recrimination for her safety, the banished duke departs, leaving Rosalind, played by Meredith Garretson, in the saf...