Washington Hall Theater welcomes the Actors From The London Stage for their sixth appearance on campus Thursday night.

The company will be performing Shakespeare's well-known comedy "As You Like It" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m.

Audience members can expect to see the same distinctively minimalist style that has become known as the AFTLS hallmark.

In the show's program, AFTLS founder Homer Swander quotes the mission of the troupe, "We insist on the simplicity…words, actors, theatrical space, audience, everyone playing. In the simplicity lies the magic…we do not seduce you with an operatic spectacular. We do not confine you or Shakespeare in the tiny world of a director's or a designer's concept."

On the stage, a large box is marked off in white tape. Scenes are conducted inside the box, or "onstage" — additional scenery is nonexistent. Any area of the stage outside the white tape is considered "backstage", and viewers will see the five cast members resting, drinking water and changing costumes in preparation for their next scene.

Costumes may not be typical of the luxurious Elizabethan dress an audience expects to see. Since the five actors — Lolita Chakrabarti, Jennifer Luckraft, Guy Burgess, Ken Drury and Richard Howard — will be taking on 20-plus roles, character and custume changes often must occur in a matter of seconds — sometimes even mid-scene.

"Things as simple as a pipe, or a hat, can be used to indicate that we are playing a different character," said Chakrabarti.

"There is a convention you have to accept," said Tom Barkes, manager of Washington Hall Theater about the distinctive style. "But once you have, it's really delightful … you get a true sense of what it means to be an actor."

Those who saw last year's AFTLS production of "All's Well That Ends Well" may recall some unique onstage situations resulting from so few actors playing so many different characters. Sometimes one actor will be playing two characters in conversation with each other.

AFTLS general manager Kate Egerton highlights a scene in "As You Like It" where "… Guy (Burgess) will be playing Orlando and Charles the Wrestler at the same time — look for him to actually fight himself."

Cast member Jennifer Luckraft said, "When you need to go from one character to another onstage, it's really made it quite dynamic. It adds to the comedy."

"As You Like It" tells the story of Rosalind, a headstrong young woman who is banished from her uncle's court.

She disguises herself as a boy and follows her love Orlando into the Forest of Arden. Orlando, in turn, has fled to the forest in an effort to escape his abusive elder brother.

Orlando and Rosalind, in the company of her cousin Celia and the court jester Touchstone, proceed to bumble their way through a humorous plot full of cases of mistaken identity and mischief.

Tickets are currently on sale at the LaFortune Box Office or by phone at (219) 631-8128. Cost is $16, discounted to $14 for seniors and $12 for students.

• London players return with "As You Like It"
  
• Acting Bard troupe calls Notre Dame their home