Such is the Pennsylvania Shakes-peare Festival's current production. Director Russell Treyz takes no extraordinary chances, but a terrific cast and handsome designs make As You Like It clear, accessible and very enjoyable.

James Martinez plays Orlando, forced to flee to the Forest of Arden by his nasty older brother (evil-oozing Steven Dennis) and even nastier Duke Frederick (Michael Waldron, who also plays his gentle brother, the banished Duke Senior). Orlando wins Senior's daughter Rosalind's affection by defeating wrestler Charles (Ian Bedford, impressively choreographed in WWE fashion by J. Alex Cordaro), and when Frederick also banishes Rosalind (Lauren Lovett), she and cousin Celia (Marnie Schulenburg) flee, disguised, to the forest with jester Touchstone (Christopher Patrick Mullen).

TRUE LOVERS RUN INTO STRANGE CAPERS: (l-R) Christopher Patrick Mullen, Marnie Schulenburg and Lauren Lovett in the Forest of Arden. : lee a. butz

Once in the forest, we meet Senior's merry men and not-so-merry Jacques (Greg Wood), plus rustic shepherds and maidens who become entangled in the central romance, in which love-struck Orlando is tutored by Rosalind—posing as a man—on how to correctly woo Rosalind.

It's all silly fun, which Treyz pushes to the limit without sacrificing the characters, who remain genuine. Mullen makes a busy, bawdy Touchstone, encouraged to ad-lib, enlist audience members and invent frenetic gestures, especially in randy pursuit of goat-tender Audrey, played with giddy oblivity by Rachael Joffred. Wood's Jacques proves his droll counterpart, as mischievous as he is melancholy, and Michael Gill hilariously creates both fey courtier Le Beau and feckless shepherd Silvius. Even the smallest roles, played by PSF's acting interns, emerge with clarity and comedy.

Will Neuert's two-dimensional, abstract trees, framed by arches festooned with painted leafy vines, provide a multileveled playground. A central padded area that accommodates the wrestling match provides the entire show's bouncy energy. Deborah J. Caney's colorful, vaguely Elizabethan costumes are beautifully rendered, and Thomas Gillespie's live accompaniment serves the show's sweetly sung tunes well.

I worried that the production's jokey contemporary references and sitcom-punchline timing would overwhelm Shakespeare, but Treyz's well-balanced, joyously acted version is never lazy or overindulgent. As You Like It, as Shakespeare's title implies, is a crowd-pleaser. As Celia says of the forest, "I like this place, and willingly could waste my time in it."

AS YOU LIKE IT Through July 9, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University, Center Valley, 610-282-9455 or www.pashakespeare.org