All Arlington's a stage

I'm nothing if not a connoisseur of theater. Back in high school, I really brought down the house as Nicely-Nicely Johnson.

In fact, 25 years later, Nicely-Nicely's jacket still has a place in my closet next to the jacket I received after I won the Masters.

But my knowledge of Shakespeare in the Park was limited to The Naked Gun.

For the first time, Arlington's Levitt Pavilion is hosting a Shakespeare production, so I decided to check out a rehearsal before the shows this weekend.

We discussed this Nicely-Nicely situation, how performing Shakespeare outside would be something new for the actors.

Orlando and Touchstone explain this was a chance for them to perform Shakespeare in a way that might be similar to the Globe Theater.

At the same time, Globe Theater isn't directly across a busy street from London City Hall, so Shakespearean actors probably spent less time dealing with traffic noise. The actors say As You Like It is a good play for such a public area because it takes place in the woods, and you can make a connection to the audience.

They say a free show where you can just wander up with the family can make Shakespeare less threatening. They can attract casual people like myself who know Shakespeare's work still affects theater today, but we don't remember much about what we learned in high school other than the teacher who made us diagram sonnets.

In this era when we spend most of our free time arguing with strangers about politics online, they say a free show can give us a chance to laugh.

Or maybe we see parallels in our own lives. Maybe we identify with Jacques, described as the show's malcontent. Jacques gets upset about a deer, but maybe it's not really about the deer, man. Maybe he just realizes his industry is dying and is slogging along cashing paychecks. Maybe sometimes, he writes a blog.

Maybe an uplifting comedy like this, a show with a happy ending, is what we all need right now. Then Touchstone and Audrey can head down the street for some Irish Nachos after the wedding.

I even got some great reviews for my delivery of "All the world's a stage," so I might add Shakespearean actor to my list of post-radio career options.