William Shakespeare connects with the iPod generation, Jim Christoferson observed as he awaited curtain time for Abilene Christian University's production of "As You Like It."

An Abilene radio executive and father of a cast member, Christoferson attended the Saturday night performance with several family members. Will Christoferson, a senior ACU drama major, played Touchstone, a jester, in the play.

"This piece of art was created 400 years ago," Jim Christoferson said.

But he said he sees today's young people developing an appreciation for Shakespearean drama to go with their eclectic tastes in art and entertainment.

Melissa Christoferson, brother of Will, said watching a performance of Shakespeare's plays beats reading it. "It's amazing how much better you can understand it when they're on stage," she said.

Jennifer Zindler, another Christoferson sister, said director Adam Hester "does a splendid job of making it so visible to everyone."

Steve Weathers, associate professor of English at ACU, said the playwright's understanding of people makes him relevant to today.

A lesson from Shakespeare, he said, is "that we need to study human nature as much as we study the external world."

Dora Weathers, Steve's wife and audio-visual supervisor at the ACU library, said Shakespeare's works let students tap into the romanticism that existed in England back in Shakespeare's day.

Several latecomers could appreciate a famous line from the play: "Sweet are the uses of adversity" as they dashed through a hard downpour into the building in the minutes before curtain time.

The comedy includes several mainstays of Shakespeare: characters assuming false identities, including that of the opposite sex; the banishment of moral characters by authoritarian rulers; and complicated romances that work out in the end.

"As You Like It" is this season's production in the annual Abilene Shakespeare Festival at ACU. Performances are scheduled Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in ACU's Fulks Theatre.