Across the bridge, ‘As You Like It’ disappoints

Love, marriage, humor, and plain old happiness are words rarely associated with that infamously seedy borough of New York City known as Brooklyn.

Yet this month, Sam Mendes—by way of William Shakespeare—hopes to infuse Manhattan’s southern cousin with some of these frothy sentiments in The Bridge Project’s production of one of the bard’s most-produced comedies, “As You Like It.”

In light of that last modifier, I must make a potentially embarrassing confession—I simply don’t like “As You Like It.” Yes, I researched and appreciate all the thinly veiled commentary on fortune and fate, but such insights do not excuse the play’s unfunny absurdity and general lack of excitement. Yet as with all reviews concerning modern Shakespeare productions, one must forgo the subjective flaws of the text and focus on the merits of the production.

Such merits are few and far between in this particular rendition—surprising for a production directed by the man who brought the modern classic “American Beauty” to the big screen. The play’s highlights are mainly technical, specifically the set design’s separation of life in the court from life in the forest. The initial set of the play looks more apt for a production of “Macbeth,” with its stark lighting and bare stage. Yet upon the play’s shift to the forest, the back wall rises and reveals the expected and desired lush landscape.

Once the grandeur of the set wears off—and it does so fairly quickly—all that remains is the subpar production. The reason for this lifelessness rests on the shoulders of Mendes, who took a darker approach to the material and grounded the play in emotional realism. He even cuts the one supernatural character in the piece, Hymen, and gives her happily-ever-after-inducing speech to another character.

The play’s purposefully contrived resolution feels even more ridiculous in the somber world in which Mendes wraps the play. The tonal tug-of-war Mendes plays with Shakespeare ultimately results in dissonant confusion, and finally, boredom.

Granted, if one is a fan of the text, these criticisms may be a moot point. The technical aspects are top-notch, so maybe my initial problems with the text simply clouded my better judgment. However, for most audience members, the long trek down to Brooklyn is not worth such a mediocre introduction.

BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street (at Ashland Place), Brooklyn. Various days, now through March 13, $35.