Exactly ëAs You Like Ití Royal Shakespeare Company Brings Out the Brit in the Bard by Gary Tischler Americans love Shakespeare. Just think of all the Shakespeare companies in the United States, not to mention Washington, D.C. Americans also do pretty well by the Bard. Just take a look at Wallace Acton doing his one-man axis of evil in ìRichard IIIî now at The Shakespeare Theatre. Still, when Americans come within a mile of the British tackling Shakespeare, they tend to genuflect. The English, after all, can claim the Bard as their own. In this way, they are blessed: They say there will always be an England, but for sure, there will always be a Shakespeare. Itís probably fair to say that nobody does Shakespeare better than Britainís Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)óthe title alone is enough to make you want to bow. As the Royal Shakespeare Company performs ìAs You Like Itî at the Kennedy Center this month, the company not only initiates the first performance of a five-year exclusive annual American residency arranged with the support of the Prince of Wales Foundation, it also brings with it a legendary history and troupe of great performers. The RSC boasts a storied history, with past members including Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Maggie Smith and Vivien Leigh. More recent performances have featured the likes of Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Kenneth Branagh, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen, Fiona Shaw, Antony Sher, Juliet Stevenson, Patrick Stewart and John Wood. The RSC technically dates back to 1875, when a Stratford brewer named Charles Edward Flower launched a campaign to build a theater in the town where Shakespeare was born. He donated a two-acre site for the theater to be built, which ended up being the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, housing 711 people and opening in 1879 with a performance of ìMuch Ado About Nothing.î At first, there were only performances for eight days in the spring, but in the early 1900s, stars of the day such as Ellen Terry began performing regularly at the theater and the season expanded. In 1926, a year after the theater was granted a Royal Charter, it burned down. Then in 1932, a new theater opened and it was here that Olivier, Gielgud and a young and passionate Richard Burton performed. But it was in 1960 that director Peter Hall, the first in a line of great RSC artistic directors, formed the new, modern Royal Shakespeare Company. During the 1960s, the repertoire reached out to modern authors as well as non-Shakespearean productions, including an unnerving and cutting-edge production of ìA Midsummer Nightís Dream,î directed with shocking flair by Peter Brook. The current arrangement with the Kennedy Center is new and will include a double program of ìThe Taming of the Shrewî and ìThe Tamer Tamedî next year, marking the first time that Shakespeareís comedy and John Fletcherís take on the Bardís play have been seen together in the same year since 1633, when the Kingís Men performed both plays in one day. The Royal Shakespeare Company has been here before, to great effect, but without contractual or residency regularity. Each appearance displayed a particular artistic directorís gifts and affinities. It was under the reign of Trevor Nunn, for instance, that ìLes Miserables,î the musical, made its appearance as a company production. Nunnís subsequent productions of ìA Midsummer Nightís Dreamî and ìThe Winterís Taleî had an airy, light storytelling quality to them that made the productions feel like drugged dreams. But it was the RSCís double bill of ìCyrano de Bergeracî and ìMuch Ado About Nothingî in the 1980s, both starring the versatile Derek Jacobi, that wonít be easily forgotten by theatergoers. Both were spectacular spectacles marked by style, energy, panache and great beauty. ìAs You Like Itî is one of the Bardís great romances; its poetry soars, its clever wit dazzles, and the heroine, the great Rosalindóperhaps Shakespeareís brightest female creationóis what makes the forest of Arden sparkle. There is also the usual abundance of plots and earthy humor as well as a heroine, magically in love, who dresses up as a man to test her swain in cruel fashion. Nina Sosanyaóan RSC favorite whose credits include ìHenry V,î ìThe Learned Ladiesî and ìThe White Devilîówill become the latest in a long line of popular Rosalinds. The director is Gregory Thompson, whose production of ìThe Tempestî toured Romania, Russia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Trinidad and Tobago. Martin Hutson and other RSC regulars round out the internationally acclaimed roster that brings its distinct British touch to the Bard. The Royal Shakespeare Companyís ìAs You Like Itî runs through May 18 at the Kennedy Center, New Hampshire Avenue and Rock Creek Parkway, NW. Tickets are $25 to $70. For more information, please call (202) 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org. Gary Tischler is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.