Rebecca Naomi Jones, Joel Perez & More Set for Public Works As You Like It Musical

Rebecca Naomi Jones will play Rosalind and Joel Perez will appear as Touchstone in the upcoming Public Works mounting of As You Like It, featuring music and lyrics by Shaina Taub and an adaptation by Taub and Laurie Woolery. The free production, kicking off the Public Theater's 2017-2018 season, will run five nights, September 1-5, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Woolery directs the mounting with choreography by Sonya Tayeh. 

In addition to Jones and Perez, the cast will be led by Ato Blankson-Wood as Orlando and Darius de Haas as Duke Senior with Taub as Jaques, along with cameo group performances by the Bronx Wrestling Federation, Freedom Dabka Group, Harambee Dance Company and The Sing Harlem Choir. As You Like It will feature over 200 community members, equity actors and musicians.

Forced from their homes, Orlando (Blankson-Wood), Duke Senior (de Haas), his daughter Rosalind (Jones) and niece Celia, escape to the Forest of Arden, a fantastical place of transformation, where all are welcomed and embraced. Lost amidst the trees, the refugees find community and acceptance under the stars.

Celebrating its fifth season, Public Works is The Public Theater’s local and national initiative that invites diverse communities from across New York to join in creating ambitious works of participatory theater. Two hundred community members and professional actors perform together on the Delacorte stage in this immersive dream-like tale of faithful friends, feuding families and lovers in disguise.