LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Friendly banter abounded as the cast of the Lake County Theatre Co.’s production of “All’s Well That Ends Well” logged into their Zoom rehearsal.

Many of the actors reside here in Lake County, but several hail from out of state, including Virginia, New York and even Toronto.

Despite a physical separation of thousands of miles and multiple time zones, cast members joked around and connected with each other as if in the same room.

Pre-rehearsal conversation touched on diva cats, pro-wrestler theme songs, and outdated fashion trends.

The pros and cons of stiff celluloid collars were discussed at some length thanks to Ed Borg, a local actor who has been in all six of the Shakespeare at the Lake productions.

Altogether, the cast of 11 has more than 40 Shakespeare performances under its belt and some 200-plus years of collective acting experience and eight degrees in theater, including four Masters of Fine Arts degrees.

Their acting chops certainly showed during rehearsal as they worked their way through the pages of Shakespeare’s comedy.

Each performer breathed life into their role, giving depth and flavor to each character while still supporting each other.

At one point Ted Powers (zooming from Toronto), typed a message into the chat to Rose Kingfisher (zooming from Marin), complimenting her stellar entrances.

Since this was the first night off-book, actors patiently waited for each other as they searched for lines or confused one scene with a later one.

They encouraged one another through the process, always keeping the bigger picture of the entire play in mind, not just their individual performance.

The Lake County Theatre Co. and Mendocino College, the producers of the Shakespeare at the Lake project, look forward to putting on a live show again next summer.

In the meantime, they hope you will tune in to this fabulous online play, chock full of talent from all over North America.

Virtual performances will take place Friday, July 23, and Saturday, July 24, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, July 25, at 2 p.m.

Visit www.lctc.us to reserve your free tickets and to obtain all the log-in information.

This production is made possible with generous support from the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College and the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.