A Shakespearean classic will get a modern spin with costumes from the 21^st century and a Bruno Mars dance number thanks to a summer class’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play “As You like It”.

The play will run each night from June 13 – 15 at 7:30 at the black box theater. Admission will be free, but donations will be accepted to support private scholarships the theater department awards to students.

The small cast is made up of the 12 students who are enrolled in this summer’s Rehearsal and Performance class.

“It’s exciting because the cast size we’re going be using is going be close to the cast size of that in the actual Shakespeare company,” director James Harbor said.

Karen Aguirre, a senior theater major, said that when she first found out she would be playing the female lead, Rosalind, she was more nervous than excited.

“With such a small cast there are quite a few of us who are doubling and playing different characters. It’s been interesting since my character interacts with everybody in the play, so I’ve had to learn how to interact differently with everybody,” Aguirre said.

For the past three weeks the cast has had to work hard, learning lines and designing their characters costumes, which were mostly pulled out of their closets to give the play a modern feel, and rehearsing all days of the week, Aguirre said.

Another added challenge was working with a collage of students with different levels of acting experience, Harbour said.

“The good thing about having different levels of experience is that when we have kids who have lots of experience, their confidence rubs off on the other kids who don’t have as much experience, so it’s a learning experience for everyone,“ Harbour said.

Director Habour has been teaching theater classes and directing plays at Georgia Southern for 18 years. This will be his fifth time directing “As You like It” and his last play before he retires at the end of the summer.