In case you haven’t heard, acclaimed theatre director David Gardner is back on campus. This week, his highly anticipated production of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy As You Like It opens at Hart House Theatre.

Gardner, a hardened veteran when it comes to directing Shakespeare, is most recently remembered for his production of Macbeth, which thrilled audiences last fall at Hart House. This season Gardner is offering theatregoers a unique look at a different, lighter side of Shakespeare’s work.

“I’ve never directed this kind of comedy before,” Gardner admits, sitting across a coffeetable inside his beautifully decorated downtown apartment. “I wanted a nice contrast to Macbeth last year.”

With that goal in mind, As You Like It is an excellent choice. The play follows the retreat of a dysfunctional and maligned court into the enchanted Forest of Arden, where love and comic misunderstanding circulate in the air and work to rejuvenate the jaded royals. Gardner describes the script as “a smile show, a warm show,” which is a far cry from the tragic descent of Macbeth, locked inside the cold, hard walls of Dunsinane.

For Gardner, every different genre of theatre calls for a different directorial approach: “I think with a drama the lines are straight, and with a comedy you tend to choreograph in circles.” He stresses that both dramas and comedies offer their own individual demands on a director. Gardner describes As You Like It as “a very technical show; you have to work hard to make the comic points clear, and get a laugh if you can.”

Directing Shakespeare is no easy feat, but it’s a task that Gardner meets with genuine excitement, dedication and reverence. But just in case that’s not enough, he also has decades of directorial experience, an estimated 850 stage, screen and radio credits, and a doctorate in Canadian theatre history from U of T to help him out as well. That being said, the U of T alumnus was quick to point out that this production is not just a student venture.

“In a funny way it goes back to the old tradition of Hart House, back in the 1920s, when it was a community theatre,” Gardner explains. “We have a mixture of students, graduates, community theatre stars-the best of all worlds.”

Gardner estimates that roughly half of the cast of 22 actors are current students or alumni of U of T.

One aspect of the production which Gardner is eager to highlight is the set designed by Sherri Catt, who also did sets and costumes for Macbeth: “The set design is very exciting… the Forest of Arden is the star.” He goes on to describe Catt’s work as “sculptural and evocative.”

Also returning from Gardner’s Macbeth are actors Jeremy Hutton, who played MacDuff, and Pip Dwyer who portrayed the power-hungry Lady Macbeth. This production sees Hutton and Dwyer cast in a far more cheerful relationship as the lovers Orlando and Rosalind.

One point that sets As You Like It apart from all of Shakespeare’s other comedies is that it is the most musical. Gardner boasts that there are “more songs in As You Like It than in any other Shakespeare play.” Asked if it was difficult to find good actors who are also good singers, Gardner, who has a great sense of humour, replies, “Yes, but we did!” He is also quick to commend the vocal talents of cast member Phil Carmichael, who will be playing the lyrically inclined Amiens.

Gardner hopes that As You Like It will reach as wide an audience as possible. He stresses his belief that “every actor should take a crack at Shakespeare, just as everybody should see at least one of his great plays, and As You Like It is one of those.”

In the days leading up to the play’s opening night, Gardner, like a true theatre director, describes his mood as “always excited, always nervous” and humbly adds, “I don’t think you ever lose that.”

As You Like It runs from September 10 to Saturday September 27 at Hart House Theatre. Tickets are $15, or $12 for students and seniors.