Shakespeare brings crowd to its feet

All the world's a stage' - including Central Park.

The New York Classical Theatre starts its sixth season in the park with a short run of Shakespeare's comedy 'As You Like It.'

But it's a real run.

The free production moves around a lake near the 103rd St. entrance known as the Pool. The troupe uses nature as its backdrop and, as the actors move from 'set' to 'set,' so does the audience - sometimes at a fairly steady pace.

'Instead of just plopping the play in the park setting because it's free,' says artistic director Stephen Burdman, 'the goal is to make it look like they just happen to be there and the audience is just spying upon all this stuff.