The opening of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" tonight at Kennedy Theatre marks director Paul T. Mitri's ascension as the Bard man at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, succeeding retired Shakespearean scholardirector Terence Knapp.

As a founder and artistic director of the Seattle Shakespeare Company in 1989, Mitri, 42, has the background to fill Knapp's big shoes. "It was an equity house — and it's still going strong," said Mitri, who arrived in Honolulu last July.

He has worked all over the world on more than 150 productions as actor, director, fight choreographer, dance choreographer and playwright.

But the Bard's the thing and he's eager to explore "why Rosa-lind does what she does to Orlando," referring to the play's conflicted romantic pair — she disguises herself as a young man to instruct him on how to be a suitable husband.

"The production is a mixture of modern sensitivity with the classical tradition," said Mitri of his approach to the comedy. Although his maiden voyage called for a cast of 30, Mitri "had to turn away actors."

Talking last week, Mitri became excited chatting about the progress of his players, noting who was the first to memorize their lines. "The girl who plays Rosalind (Christa Eleftherakis) is the first one off the book and somebody told me that Rosalind is the longest female part of all Shakespeare. This shows fortitude."

Mitri said his appreciation of The Bard come with time and effort — it's all about the words.

"His language has rhythm. I tell my students that the way that rap plays with words is very similar with Shakespeare. If they can love the word play, they can get to love Shakespeare," he said.

His mission was to "create our own world of the court, breaking away from Arden (the forest, which is part of the play's setting)," said Mitri. "Design-wise, Sandy Finney and other costumers have mixed modern with classical sensibilities, creating high fashion and shallow world."

While he'd like to see Shakespeare's Island presence grow, "doing more shows is not necessarily tech-wise; we don't have the resources," he said. More isn't necessarily better. "I would like to feed into the work being done by the summer Shakespeare festival, but I hope to do shows in the summer (at Kennedy Theatre), too — and not necessarily Shakespeare."

Mitri earned his MA from the University of Washington, where his professor "was very big on MoliEre and Shakespeare." The Elizabethan work stuck with him and he went on to launch the Seattle Shakespeare Festival.

Mitri worked with Knapp when he played George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Manoa Valley Theatre. Mitri describes Knapp as "very, very nice."

He saw a job vacancy notice at the drama department and figured his multicultural, multitask experience met the requirements, having taught or worked in Japan, Egypt, and Salem, Mass. "I fit everything they were looking for — Shakespeare, voice, movement," he said. "When I met the staff, I knew it was going to be fun here."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.