The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

As You Like It at the National Theatre

As You Like It at the National Theatre | Theatre review
11 November 2015
Dominique Perrett
Avatar
Dominique Perrett
11 November 2015

The Olivier Theatre now hosts Shakespeare’s comedy of love and change As You Like It, last seen at the National Theatre 36 years ago. It is safe to say that As You Like It is one of the bard’s most peculiar and challenging plays to stage, with its convoluted plotlines and wild woodland setting. However, Polly Findlay’s production brings a stunningly modern meaning to “all the world’s a stage”.

Rosalie Craig brings a glowing performance as the bold heroine Rosalind, as well as insightful, warm masculinity to her male counterpart, Ganymede. Patsy Ferran, as her ever-faithful cousin Celie, provides an excellent comic partner. She embodies thigh-slapping wit with overly expressive eyebrows in a pale blue gilet. Together the two flee the repressive court, escaping to the forest of tumultuous romance and political banishment.

Lizzie Clachan’s design pushes the boundaries of the versatility of the Olivier stage. A clinical, Google-style office is transformed into a grey, metallic wood in one of the most spectacular set changes the National has housed in years. The perfect symmetry and order of the pastel-coloured office ascended, forming a tangled mess of tables and chairs to create the dark wilderness of the Forest of Arden. This transformation was so impressive, that it not only warranted a rapturous applause, but also a small pause in the show by stage management to make some structural adjustments. After the quick interval the audience was left to wonder at the eerie, metallic jungle. Indeed, every visit to the National is a totally different experience, but Clachan’s set transports the audience to an entirely new realm, inverting Shakespeare’s famous notion, “all the world’s a stage”, to prove that the stage can house anything you can imagine.

It is not uncommon to attempt a modern adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s plays, but Polly Findlay’s production revitalises dated wit and historical eccentricity with fun and vitality. From a Lycra-clad Mexican wrestler turning a stoic office into a scene from Wolf of Wall Street, to a herd of “sheep” munching on leafy love letters wearing wool jumpers, Findlay’s genius brings an idiosyncratic work of Shakespeare up to date in a thrilling way. And the whole play is brilliantly fresh and natural with the Forest of Arden being brought to life with the harmonious humming and chirping of a scattered ensemble. It is a hilariously transformative experience of love and life.

★★★★★

Dominique Perrett
Photo: Johan Persson

As You Like It is on at the Olivier Theatre from 26th October  until 5th March 2016, for further information or to book visit here.

Watch the trailer for As You Like It here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

 

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Edinburgh Fringe 2022: In PurSUEt at Underbelly, Cowgate

★★★★★
Madison Sotos
Read More

Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: Keep It Down at Hope Theatre

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: Dreamworld at Camden People’s Theatre

★★★★★
Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Two Ukrainian Plays at Finborough Theatre

★★★★★
Sophia Moss
Read More

Rita at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Hungry

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances

The editorial unit
Read More

The West at COLAB Tavern

★★★★★
Francis Nash
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Dominique Perrett

As You Like It

★★★★★

Dates

26th October 2015 - 5th March 2016

Price

£15-£50

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • My Old School
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: Dreamworld at Camden People’s Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Trending summer dresses everyone wants to own in a heatwave
    Fashion & Lifestyle
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: In PurSUEt at Underbelly, Cowgate
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Edinburgh Fringe 2022: Mr Moon at C Aquila
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: Keep It Down at Hope Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Camden Fringe 2022: Dreamworld at Camden People’s Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: “A night that will be remembered by 80,000 people for years to come”
    Live music
  • Where is Anne Frank?
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Anaïs in Love
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sprung
    ★★★★★
    other
  • Bad Sisters
    ★★★★★
    apple
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

All on Her Own at the Garrick Theatre | Theatre review
Money at the Lexington | Live review