ROCK SPRINGS — Western Wyoming Community College’s theater program opened its black box production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” Thursday evening, with performances continuing through Saturday.

The show runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m. The production is staged in Western’s black box theater on the Rock Springs campus.

Written around 1599, “As You Like It” is a pastoral comedy that follows Rosalind, who is banished by the New Duke and ventures into the Forest of Arden disguised as a man named Ganymede, accompanied by her cousin Celia. There, she reunites with Orlando, a young man she had fallen in love with at court, and orchestrates an elaborate courtship before revealing her true identity and marrying him at the play’s end.

Director Steve Cramer said the timing of the production feels fitting.

“I love this play, especially during this time of year,” Cramer wrote in the production’s playbill. “I consider the springtime to be a time to reflect on what we have and a renewed sense of life.”

Cramer described the Forest of Arden as the heart of the play’s meaning.

“I believe that we all experience our own ‘Arden’ where we meet people of different backgrounds, influence one another, and eventually come away as better individuals for having the experience,” he said.

The black box format places audiences in an intimate setting close to the action, a departure from Western’s larger main-stage productions.

Cramer noted the production carries personal significance.

“As I leave my Arden and return home, I will be forever changed by the students I have met, the community, and this beautiful part of the country,” he said.

Tickets are available at westernwyoming.edu/theater. They may also be purchased by calling (307) 382-1721 or at the door, with the box office opening one hour before curtain.